Bundesliga
Fans, clubs and experts have voted for their Bundesliga Team of the Season 2022/23, in partnership with EA Sports, whittling down a 40-man shortlist to emerge with a world-beating all-star XI…
>>> Click here for more on the Team of the Season!
The winners
Goalkeeper
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)
The Swiss shot stopper has had an incredible season, offering a safe pair of hands at the back to support Dortmund’s title bid. None of the Dortmund faithful will begrudge him making a rare and highly unfortunate error in the defeat to Bayern Munich in April’s title-race Klassiker. Kobel has made every effort over the campaign, after all, winning numerous one-on-ones, bossing his penalty area and showing he can perform with the ball at his feet too. He is fully deserving of his place in the Team of the Season.
Defenders
Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen)
The lightning-fast Dutchman may nominally be a right-back, but in reality he is here, there and everywhere. He has the stats to prove that – with Frimpong registering eight goals and six assists prior to Matchday 32 in 2022/23. He is 12th of all Bundesliga players this season for goal involvements and has a breathtaking top speed of 36 km/h – more than enough to earn him a spot in the Team of the Season.
Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich)
The Dutch centre-back took a little while to nail down a regular starting spot for Bayern Munich, but the 23-year-old has started all but one Bundesliga match since the winter break. With 61 percent challenges won he has the second-best figures for challenges among all Bayern players behind Benjamin Pavard, and certainly knows how to find the net too. His three goals are a very healthy output for a central defender – and he has chipped in with important strikes in the title race, most notably his long-range efforts in the 2-1 win in Stuttgart and 1-0 victory in Freiburg.
Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund)
Having won a whopping 66 percent of his challenges, the Dortmund defender has officially been the best tackler of the Bundesliga season. With his determined character and relentless playing style, he has quickly earned a place in the hearts of BVB fans. He has made quite the impact at the other end of the field too with four goals and four assists. The perfectly weighted cross he delivered to Anthony Modeste to tie the Klassiker in Dortmund 2-2 in stoppage time earlier in the season is a particularly memorable moment.
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
The speedy Bayern full-back may only be the second fastest player of the season (with 36.53 km/h), but he posted the top speed in the Team of the Season (in the absence of Karim Adeyemi). Opponents have struggled to keep him in check due to his raw pace and trickery. Leave a hole of any shape at the back and Davies will race through it! He chipped in with a goal and four assists in 2022/23 but was unavailable for selection as Bayern battled at the end of a fierce title race. His qualities are always going to be an asset to our Team of the Season though.
Watch: The best of Frimpong this season
Midfielders
Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund)
The attacking midfielder has enjoyed his strongest ever season for Dortmund. He has proven to be equally adept at scoring and assisting throughout the campaign – with the 28-year-old registering eight of each with just three games left of 2022/23. Brandt has more goal involvements than anyone else in Dortmund’s impressive array of attacking talents. His running ability, dynamism and habit for finding space have seen him make a telling contribution to the Black and Yellow’s burst of form after the winter break that brought them right into a tight title battle.
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Sometimes you just have to have it all. That’s Jude Bellingham’s approach to football in a nutshell, as the boy can do everything! Pass, dribble, finish – you name it, the English midfield magician is a master of all trades. There is one area where he has left the entire Bundesliga trailing – nobody has won as many challenges at the Dortmund star. Going in to Matchday 32, the 19-year-old has won 461 this season with Bochum’s Philipp Hofmann some way of the pace in second with 421 challenges won. He’ll be the ball winner par excellence in our Team of the Season too.
It never ceases to be a treat to watch Bayern star Jamal Musiala glide across the pitch with the ball at his feet. His goal that put the record champions 4-1 up in Wolfsburg is one of the season’s most unforgettable highlights. After sprinting across half the pitch and leaving opponent after opponent trailing behind him, he calmly slotted the ball into the corner of the net. That was one of a total of 20 goal involvements this season. Only two of his Team of the Season teammates are able to top that.
Watch: Bellingham's magical skills
Forwards
Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen)
The Frenchman has been a key pillar of the Leverkusen revival under Xabi Alonso. His top speed this season of 36.52 km/h has only been bettered by Davies and Adeyemi. He links up again with his Leverkusen teammate Jeremie Frimpong in the Team of the Season to recreate the dream attacking pairing down the right. Diaby has smashed nine goals this season and assisted a further eight. That is more goal involvements than any other player at the Werkself and places him sixth in the league overall.
Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Niclas Füllkrug may have netted the most goals, but the ferocious Frankfurt forward has more goal involvements than anyone else in the league. He is the only player so far this season to have reached double figures for both goals and assists (13 and 10 respectively). The 24-year-old attacker has conquered the Bundesliga in next to no time, and only a strong save kept him from scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final in the process. He might well be back on that stage as there is quite simply no tying him down.
Watch: Kolo Muani under the tactical microscope
Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen)
The Bremen attacker has taken the longest route of any of the players into the Team of the Season. He had struggled for goals with Werder in Bundesliga 2 at first, then was briefly suspended before developing into an attacking force of nature along with his trusted strike partner Marvin Ducksch – the kind of which German national team coach Hansi Flick was unable to ignore. Despite suffering a persistent calf injury, Füllkrug is the top goalscorer this season with 16 goals and is on course to become the fifth Bremen player to be crowned the Bundesliga’s leading marksman after Rudi Völler (1983), Mario Basler (1995), Ailton (2004) and Miroslav Klose (2006).