Once upon a time, former Bayern Munich captain Stefan Effenberg was asked about his sides chances in the upcoming Bundesliga season, and his reply was "We will win it again because all the other teams are too stupid to win the title." Whilst this season hasn't seen Bayern as dominant, the other teams have all been 'stupid' and given the title away. Wolfsburg started the season very well, but imploded under the ruinous rein of Armin Veh that saw the champions tumble as far as 15th in the table. VFB Stuttgart who rallied hard at the end of last season under young trainer Markus Babbel, they also imploded and forfeited European football all together with their awful form. Hamburg also had a very bright start under new and more experienced trainer Bruno Labbadia with new signing Eljero Elia lighting the league up, but internal squabbles and injuries put paid to their championship hopes.

That has now left only Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04. Bayern Munich had a horrible start to the season by their standards, Van Gaal tinkering with every formation and adding new ones to the sport, trying players in inappropriate matches, which led to 3 losses, and the writing looked on the wall for the Dutch coach. The changing point was the 1-1 draw to then rampant Bayer Leverkusen in November where even though outplayed, were able to stay in touch with the then leaders, and the 13 matches after that, they won 11 and drew 2 matches to get back to the top of the table after nearly 2 years not being 'where they belong'.

Bayer Leverkusen on the other hand were writing records in German football, they had gone an incredible 24 games unbeaten, notching up 11 draws and 13 wins. Stefan Kiessling, Eren Derdiyok were banging in the goals, and behind them, Toni Kroos was pulling the strings and hitting in fierce and bewildering set pieces. However after the loss to Nurnberg on matchday 25, they have lost 3 of the last 4 games, the wrong time to lose form. They are now even in danger of losing third spot to the duo threat of Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen.

Schalke had one of the most expensive squads in the league, although that doesn't mean they had the quality, and the only way they would even dream of winning their first championship since 1958 was if Felix Magath worked his magic. And against all intelligence,his troops have risen to his levels, and are now in second, 2 points behind Bayern Munich, although they have also begun to lose form at the wrong time, losses to Bayern Munich and Hannover on consecutive weekends have dented their plans.

Bayern Munich, the leaders, are on 60 points after 30 games, and with 4 games to go, they should be able to hold their nerve and see the job through. They host relegation candidates Hannover before clashing with Lyon in the Champions League. An away day to mid table Gladbach, then they host another relegation candidate in Bochum, before closing their campaign at doomed Hertha Berlin. The title is theirs to lose.

Schalke 04, the main challengers are 2 points behind on 58, and have a tricky run in. First they host Gladbach before travelling to face Hertha Berlin. They then host resurgent Werder Bremen before finishing the season away to Mainz. This is not the ideal run in, Bremen and Mainz could cause them serious problem, anything less than 12 points and they won't stand a chance.

Bayer Leverkusen, are a further 4 points behind on 54 points, and their hopes are all but over. They face a resurgent Stuttgart away before hosting Hannover, then they face Hertha Berlin at home before travelling to Gladbach for their last match of the season. They need to secure third before even thinking of the championship.

I predict Bayern Munich to win the championship.

This is a much shorter post, Porto have fallen behind so much, in part to too many transfers out and in. They lost Lisandro Lopez to Lyon, Lucho to Marseille, Cissokho to Lyon, and they have bought in some gems like Falcao, but this has been one too many changes. They have also missed Hulk who was suspended for 4 months for it only to be reduced to 4 games, but that was after he had served 3 months of the ban.  Sporting Lisbon had a disastrous start to the season, inadequate investment in players and bad coaching killed off their chances of league glory. That then let in surprise package, Sporting Braga, a team that normally finishes between 5th and 10th, to come into the title race. They are built on a steel structured play, very tight at the back and scoring on set pieces and quick breaks, and this has seen them last the pace in the championship race.

That leaves me with the team that I think is probably the second best team to watch in European football this season, Benfica. Coached by Jorge Jesus, they embarked on a serious transfer campaign, bringing in Ramires, Saviola, Aimar, Garcia, and Kardec, they have taken the league by storm. They have scored 65 goals in 25 games, and some of the quality of the goals have been a beauty to behold. Led by giant Oscar Cardozo aka The Left Foot From Hell who has plundered 20 goals, they have shown the best of Portuguese flair and cunning. They employ a 4-4-1-1 scheme, that see's Ramires on the right, just in front of holding midfielder Garcia. They then have Di Maria pinned high on the left, Aimar in front of Garcia, then Saviola playing behind Cardozo.

Benfica, with only 4 games to go, Benfica have a 3 point lead and a superior head to head and goal difference over Braga. They face Sporting Lisbon at home tonight, then face Academica away, host Olhanese then their final game see's them vist the Dragao to play Porto, who will want to stop the procession if it is still on.

Braga face Leixoes at home, then away to Naval, they then host Ferreira before closing the season away to Nacional. These are all fixtures they can win, but they need Benfica to slip up twice for them to even have a hop of winning.

I predict Benfica winning the championship.