The complete guide to every Bundesliga team Premier League clubs most align with

With the Bundesliga back in action, post shutdown, well ahead of other major leagues, a worldwide television audience on a scale that normally views the English Premier League is anticipated. The football should be as good, though the names may be less familiar. So here’s a guide to who’s who in Germany’s top flight, as seen through a Premier League lens. Bayern Munich. A glorious history, a sense of entitlement and, most likely, an imminent title. Recognise the traits? Bayern have not set a pace quite like this season's Liverpool , but they are in daunting form and lethal up front, where Robert Lewandowski has more goals this term - 39 - than Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane combined. Borussia Dortmund . Young, dashing but a little too fragile to stand comparison with the club's more rugged teams of the recent past. Yes, the Dortmund of wonderkids Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland are a mirror of youthful Chelsea . RB Leipzig . The most upwardly mobile club in Germany, with a satellite branch in New York, among other places. Much like empire-building Manchester City - or so they hope at ambitious Leipzig, where memories of life in the third division are still vivid. Borussia Monchengladbach . Once upon a time, Monchengladbach ruled the land, with five titles in the space of eight years. Then came the fade into ordinariness. A parable there for fallen Manchester United . Bayer Leverkusen . Or, as a famous taunt has it, Bayer 'Neverkusen', the club with the tantalising habit of glimpsing silverware and never capturing it. They are the Tottenham Hotspur of 21st century German football. Schalke . Magnificent stadium, great support base, and a talent factory that has produced talents as distinct as Jens Lehmann, Sead Kolasinac and Mesut Ozil. Alas, they turn brittle under pressure. Step forward, modern Arsenal's German twin. _________________ _________________ Wolfsburg . Imagine an unfashionable provincial city, where the football club had just spent two seasons skirting the cliff-edge between top flight and second tier. Then imagine them winning the title a few months later. That was Wolfsburg's fairytale less than a decade ago; it was Leicester City's six years later. Freiburg . It's been a rollercoaster decade: Promotion, relegation, an adventure in Europe. But a long-serving manager has kept them stable through the yo-yo years. Bravo to Freiburg and coach Christian Streich, the Bundesliga's answer to Burnley and Sean Dyche. Hoffenheim . Investment, planning, and a finely-tuned scouting network can drive you into the top division. But once there predators start treating you as a feeder club. Like Southampton , Hoffenheim always sell their best discoveries. And as at Southampton, the very best end up at Liverpool, to whom Roberto Firmino was sold. Cologne . A vibrant, loyal support. A city geared to football. That's the good news. The bad? All those diehard fans have had a tortured time these last 20 years, and learned, as painfully as any follower of Newcastle United that passion and history count for only so much. Union Berlin . Promoted last summer, sole representatives in the top flight of the pre-unification East German league, Union have defied expectations this season. The so-called 'Iron Union' are to the Bundesliga what steely Sheffield United are to the Premier League. _________________ _________________ Eintracht Frankfurt . Remember when Eintracht graced a European Cup final? You need to go back a long way, to 1960. So too with Wolves , Uefa Cup finalists in 1971, but currently celebrating their revival with a march through the Europa League, in which Eintracht made the semis last year after a lengthy period of obscurity. Hertha Berlin . Let's say your city gets to host a major international event, the 2006 World Cup final, say, or the 2012 Olympics, and you inherit the high-spec, publicly funded arena. The future would be bright, wouldn't it? Not so for Hertha, nor yet for West Ham United . They both look ill-at-ease with the grandeur of their stadiums. Augsburg . Shortly before the shutdown of the Bundesliga, Augsburg appointed their fifth different manager - Heiko Herrlich - in four years. Maybe that'll help. It has for Watford , since Nigel Pearson became their fifth new manager since 2016. Mainz . Good managers get made in Mainz, from the charismatic Jurgen Klopp to Paris Saint-Germain's studious Thomas Tuchel. For that, they echo Bournemouth , where Harry Redknapp was launched into management and celebrity, and where the thoughtful Eddie Howe builds his reputation. Fortuna Dusseldorf . Wistful for those far-off days - it's been more than 40 years - when they were good enough to reach a major European final, Fortuna have lately spent too much time in the second tier. Ditto Aston Villa , a former European champion battling against a quick drop back to the Championship. Werder Bremen . Bremen have only ever spent one season outside the top tier of the Bundesliga. So, shouldn't they be performing more often like a true heavyweight? Everton fans would sympathise. Paderborn . Newly promoted last summer? Check. In the relegation zone since October? Check. Six points shy of possible safety? Check. Yes, Paderborn look ominously like Norwich City .

The complete guide to every Bundesliga team Premier League clubs most align with

Germany kick-starts its 2019/20 season after the coronavirus-enforced shutdown this weekend