Unlike Serie A or the Premiership, the 2006/7 Bundesliga was exciting to the very end, eventually being won by VfB Stuttgart at big odds. Schalke also caused a surprise by finishing second and the reason why both teams performed so well domestically was that they had little to no distraction in Europe. Compare this to Champion League quarter-finalists Bayern Munich and UEFA Cup semi-finalists Werder Bremen and you begin to understand why many shrewd punters will regularly ‘take on’ teams who are competing on several fronts.

There’s certainly less of a gulf in class between the top German teams and the rest at the moment, perhaps because there’s not as much money pumping round the Bundesliga as La Liga or Premiership. This means the majority of matches are fairly even contests where it’s wise to avoid backing too many selections at odds-on. Bookmakers will regularly under-price ‘name’ teams like Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen and, worse of all, Borussia Dortmund so it’s worth taking five minutes to look at the league and form table before making a bet on the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich have previously been by far the strongest team in Germany but their powers have waned in recent seasons due to the departure of key players such as Ballack. Many punters will expect them to bounce back in style next year and grab the title, especially as they’ve missed out on the Champions League. However, if you’re tempted to pile in, it’s worth remembering that they finished fourth for a reason in 2006/7.