- So Leipzig, who are competing with Bayern & Dortmund for the title again & had to deal with months of english weeks spent facing richer clubs in europe, spend half of what Dortmund spends & less than a third of what Bayern does. Their wage bill is closer to #7 Gladbach's than to #3 Leverkusen's and would see them 16th in the EPL, behind clubs like Aston Villa & Watford.
Despite that they're successfully battling on multiple fronts against these higher spending teams...currently in 2nd place in the BuLi (only because they couldn't finish off the win over Bayern despite having outplayed them), and are once again in the CL knockouts. Having done so playing very attractive football and having eliminated a club from the CL who spend almost 4 times what they do (ManU).
All of that is why I said that they are outplaying their budget, Wolfsburg or Schalke of years past is what they would look like if they weren't.
- I also included Gladbach because while Schalke have decayed & Leipzig has arisen to replace them in Germany's top 3, it is BMG who have been Leverkusen's primary rival for that 4th spot over the past decade.
A task they've accomplished while spending a third less on wages...which btw is the smallest that gap has been; as when Eberl started BMG's wage bill was more in line with Mainz & Freiburg's...and significantly less on transfers. Over that time they have regularly outperformed richer clubs in the battle for european positioning and consistently finished ahead of their financial ranking.
And despite getting worn down by months of english weeks, also spent battling until the last gameday against richer clubs in the CL; they're still within touching distance of the CL spots domestically (4pts back) and in the knockout stages of the CL. Perfectly positioned to make their annual 2nd half of the season push once the schedule lightens up, to challenge Leverkusen for the 4th spot.
- Hoffenheim doesn't really fit on the wage front, though transfers being their largest source of revenue was not unique to the 2019/2020 season and has happened pretty often since they established themselves & Hoppe forced them to be self-sufficient.
So I'll concede that they don't fit this thread...though they do play attractive football, they're not very consistent with their results and aren't really outperforming their budgets.
- Same for Werder/Stuttgart/Frankfurt; attractive to watch for neutrals, but the results v budget don't qualify for this thread.
That all said, my Eisernen & Freiburg definitely qualify. Even if we punish Gladbach & Leipzig for playing in Europe and disqualify them; Union & Streich's boys give you great bang for your buck without bunkering.
