So, who are the top five full-backs in the Bundesliga?
A critically important position from both a defensive and attacking standpoint and someone who can make a real difference to a side’s fortunes.
Never has been that truer than in the recently concluded season and an obvious star for me plays for, surprise surprise, German champions Bayern Munich.
Alphonso Davies has long stood out for club and his country Canada. The fact he is still only 24 speaks volumes for how long he has been around, and all we can do now is wish him well on his return from a serious injury.
It was in March when Davies was ruled out for a minimum of six months, sparking a row between club and country when Bayern accused Canada Soccer of negligence after he returned from international duty with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Davies went off injured 12 minutes into a CONCACAF Nations League play-off and, while Canada Soccer initially gave him the all clear, an examination on his return to Munich revealed the injury and Davies was quickly sidelined long-term.
At a press conference that followed, Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund said Canada Soccer’s decision to send Davies on a 12-hour flight to Germany before a thorough medical examination was conducted was “borderline” and “negligent”. It was hard to argue otherwise.
The toll it has taken on him physically and mentally was revealed in a recent interview in which Davies demonstrated the loneliness of waiting around a hospital bed, the physical toll of treatment and the impact of struggles to walk.
Hopefully, he will make a full recovery as this SBOTOP observer believes he is a super player as his role in 19 matches last term – in which he chipped in with one goal, two assists and a hand in far and away the league’s best defensive record – was clear.
Another man responsible for Bundesliga 2025 highlights from the full-back role was Alejandro Grimaldo of Bayer Leverkusen.
For me, he is the leading full-back in the German top-flight,and that was backed up by the number crunching which produced some mightily impressive results. Seven goals and two assists in 32 Bundesliga encounters, three assists in five German Cup ties, and two goals and an assist in 10 Champions League matches.
At 29, he is at the peak of his career and a player who Leverkusen would dearly love to keep, amid links of a return to Barcelona or their arch rivals Real Madrid who, of course, have a new manager in the shape of Grimaldo’s recently departed Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.
Grimaldo believed that when he moved from Barca reserves to Benfica in early 2016, he had a better chance of establishing himself as a regular in a good team in Lisbon. He basically excelled ever since and, as part of their serious rebuild. the club will not want to lose another full-back after Jeremie Frimpong, who contributed to 12 assists in five goals across all competitions last term, headed to England and Liverpool.
As for the other full-backs, I would definitely select Maximilian Mittelstaedt, the Stuttgart left-back who played 31 times in the league last season and set up eight goals, chipping in with one himself – a good record for a defender in a midtable side who finished ninth, narrowly missing out on Europe by two points (via the league).
Mittelstadt’s defensive strengths are matched by his ability to create big chances for Stuttgart and the faith shown in him by German national manager Julian Nagelsmann.
Never mind the Bundesliga 2025 betting odds, he more than made up for the league disappointment by helping his side to glory in last month’s German Cup when they ended the fairytale run of third division German champions Arminia Bielefeld.
Another player who made my list helped his side finish third in the table, behind Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, and into the Champions League. Danish right-back Rasmus Kristensen scored five times and made three assists during 31 league games. On loan from Leeds, Eintracht Frankfurt have now made the move permanent and he was voted the club’s player of the season.
And let me conclude with another Scandinavian, someone who only played 12 league matches last term but made quite an impression. Daniel Svensson caught the eye with a goal and three assists in that time and has signed a deal with Borussia Dortmund through until 2029.
Svensson only arrived in the New Year following a loan move from Denmark side FC Nordsjælland, yet he impressed domestically and in Europe as Dortmund finished fourth and reached the Champions League.
Watch out for this lad – only the second Swede to ever play for Dortmund – and if he can match the pedigree of the first, he’ll do well. Alexander Isak was the first, making 13 appearances and scoring one goal before a transfer to Real Sociedad in 2019.
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