Where the Bundesliga is best in Europe
Harry Kane and Bayern Munich, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen and others helped the Bundesliga into the top two UEFA country coefficients in the 2023/24 season. And when it comes to goals and fans, the Bundesliga tops the pile.
bundesliga.com takes a closer look…
Data correct as of 27 May 2024
Sharpest shooters
If it was an education in the art of scoring you were after in 2023/24 then the Bundesliga was the place to be.
In Bayern’s Harry Kane (36), VfB Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy (28) and RB Leipzig’s Loïs Openda (24), Germany’s top flight housed three of the top five scorers across Europe’s leading five divisions, per UEFA coefficient. Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, both with 27 goals, rounded out the leading pack.
Kane fired in more goals than any other player in history in a debut Bundesliga campaign, earning him the European Golden Boot; Guirassy would have been top scorer in any other league; and with an average of 3.22 goals per game (985 total), it was the most-goal filled Bundesliga season in 37 years (since 1986/87, with 3.24). Indeed, only the English Premier League had a higher goals-per-game average (3.28) than the Bundesliga.
Watch: Every Harry Kane goal in the Bundesliga
Moreover, the Bundesliga averaged more shots (27.8) and clear-cut chances per game (five) than any other league, while Bayern (2.76) and Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen (2.62) averaged more goals per game than any other European team. For context, Premier League champions Manchester City were third in this particular category with 2.53.
Leverkusen were also one of the standout stories this season, becoming the first team ever to go unbeaten throughout a Bundesliga campaign, en route to completing the domestic double with a DFB Cup triumph.
Along the way, they set a new record for consecutive games without defeat, their 51-match run only ended by Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final.
Watch: Xabi Alonso's historic season at Leverkusen
Want more Bundesliga Action?
All of which goes a long way to explaining why fans flock to the Bundesliga in bigger numbers than anywhere else.
The average attendance of 39,467 this season was greater than any other major European league, while Bundesliga 2 was the fourth-best attended league with 29,075, ahead of Spain’s LaLiga and France’s Ligue 1.
Related news
Matchday 15 probable teams
The Bundesliga's recently crowned November Player of the Month, Omar Marmoush, could end 2024 as the league's top scorer if he finds the net against Mainz...
Bundesliga 2, Matchday 17 overview
Kaiserslautern host promotion rivals Cologne in the pick of the year-ending fixtures in Germany's second tier...
Can clubs add to their European squads in January?
We delve into the finer points of the rule book to see what happens to new signings, injured players and previously excluded squad members...