It's been a long wait for fans of the Bundesliga to get stuck into the action comparatively to the rest of Europe, with the Ruckrunde in Germany's top-flight kicking off tonight. Runaway league leaders Bayern get proceedings back underway with a trip to Hamburg as Pep Guardiola's three-year stint in Bavaria draws to a close.
12 points clear at the top of the league, the reigning champions have dropped just 5 from a possible 51 all season, conceding only 8 goals thus far. While Bayern are well on their wat to claiming the title for the fourth successive campaign, however, there have plenty of talking points to now, with more to come following what was an otherwise hotly contested hinrunde.
To say nobody's safe would of course be a false claim but in reality there are teams currently occupying positions in the top half of the table that aren't out of the woods just yet. Indeed, the entire bottom half of the league are separated by just 9 points, with Augsburg's run of form ahead of the winter break proving that no team are without a prayer.
Markus Weinzierl's side had a woeful start to the season having finished way up in fifth last time out, and the young manager's impressive reputation was taking something of a hit. However, three wins from four in the Europa League have seen them progress to the knockout stages and a run of 13 points from a possible 15 before Christmas lifted the club from the foot of the table to 12th, having won just 1 of first 12 league games.
Instead it's Hoffenheim who foot the table after an impressive campaign of their own in 2014/15, proving that unpredictability is far from restricted to the Premier League. Following the sale of star man Roberto Firmino, TSG struggled to bed in a number of new signings but since the appointment of Huub Stevens late in October they have at least proven harder to beat. In teenage prospect Nadiem Amiri they have a player to watch in the second half of the season, who in his only appearance as a centre forward scored once and registered 2 assists for a man of the match rating of 9.32 against Gladbach.
It's arguably Hannover who look to be in the most worrying slump right now and will need to improve immediately. Former Frankfurt boss Thomas Schaaf has been appointed to arrest a slide of 5 defeats in 6 ahead of the New Year. However, with The Reds' joint top scorers having netted just 3 apiece, the side are sorely missing the departed pairing of Joselu and Lars Stindl, with risks being taken on Adam Szalai - who started just once for relegation rivals Hoffenheim - and Hugo Almeida following an unfruitful spell with Anzhi in Russia.
Eslewhere the promoted pairing of Darmstadt and Ingolstadt have exceeded expectations but with both sides winning just 1 of their last 8 in the league, they will be tipped by many to slip further into the mire. While they sit in a highly respectable 11th the latter may struggle more in the second half of the season having scored a meagre 11 goals to now - comfortably the fewest in the division.
One side that many felt would be battling the drop amongst the aforementioned strugglers is Hertha, who have undoubtedly been the surprise package of the campaign. Having narrowly avoided the drop last time out Pal Dardai's men began the campaign in inconsistent fashion but ended the year far from it, with 5 wins from 6 lifting The Oldy Lady to third. Bundesliga veteran Vedad Ibisevic is still more than holding his own alongside former Chelsea favourite Salomon Kalou up front, while both Mitchell Weiser and Vladimir Darida have proven to be superb signings - the former Bayern youngster leading the side in assists (4) for a rating of 7.10. However, with a respectable tally of 26 league goals from a league low of 9.3 shots per game thus far they may struggle to keep up that level of ruthless efficiency.
Hertha find themselves 6 points clear of Wolfsburg, who have disappointed to sit just outside the Europa League places in the absence of last season's Bundesliga Player of the Year Kevin De Bruyne, and 6 adrift of Borussia Dortmund in second. Thomas Tuchel had an immediate impact following the emotional departure of Jurgen Klopp and has Die Schwarzgelben far closer to their previous pomp than at this stage last season, when they sat second from bottom by comparison, only ahead of Freiburg by virtue of goals scored.
The former Mainz boss has managed to get the best out of Henrikh Mkhitaryan where Klopp struggled last time out, with the Armenian scoring 6 and assisting 8 goals to secure the second highest rating in the league to date (7.96). Meanwhile the goalscoring form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been remarkable, with the striker notching 18 league goals already, with the aforementioned duo firmly outperforming fan favourite Marco Reus thus far.
It has indeed been a season for prolific marksmen where the last flattered to deceive. Aubameyang's league leading tally is just one shy of last season's record of 19 from Alexander Meier already, while the likes of Robert Lewandowski (15 goals), Thomas Muller (14) and Javier Hernandez (11) - who ended last year in sensational form in front of goal - all join the Gabonese international in double figures.
Of course, it would be remiss of me not to end on the league leaders though, and indeed a player that has taken Germany's top-flight by storm. The electric pace and trickery of Douglas Costa has been a joy to behold, with the Brazilian adapting to his surroundings in seamless fashion to become a valued addition to the Bundesliga. While he has made just 12 league appearances the former Shakhtar flyer has scored twice and registered 7 assists, ranking among the top 5 players in terms of shots (3.3), key passes (2.6) and dribbles (3.8) per game to earn the highest rating of any player in the hinrunde (7.98).
While the swansong of Guardiola will no doubt be a joy to watch this, there should be an abundance of entertainment elsewhere to ensure that this Bundesliga season isn't merely written off as another Bayern domination.
Which players do you think will be worth keeping an eye on in the ruckrunde? Let us know in the comments below
