6 Stars of the Bundesliga Season So Far That You May Not Have Heard Of
It's now only a matter of days until the European football drought is brought to an end by the return of the Bundesliga.
Like it or not, you will be discussing German football a lot with your friends in the near future, if only because there's nothing else on. Here at 90min we want to help you seem really knowledgeable - even if you currently think that Wolfsburg is a type of sausage.
With that in mind, here's six stars of the season that have flown under the radar this season. Make sure you drop them into conversation to really impress your mates.
Christopher Trimmel (Union Berlin)
Their story may be inspiring but few people expected Union Berlin to stay up during their first ever Bundesliga season. However, they look set to do exactly that and this is in no small part thanks to the excellent form of their captain, Christopher Trimmel.
The 33-year-old Austrian had never played in the German top flight prior to this campaign and he has more than made up for lost time by racking up no less than nine assists from right-back. He even laid on all three of Union's goals against Mainz back in September. Lovely stuff.
Union take on Bayern Munich on Saturday in the reverse of their meeting back in October when Die Roten only just secured a 2-1 win.
Philipp Max (Augsburg)
Second to only Alphonso Davies as the most exciting left-back in the Bundesliga, you can tell that Max started his career as a forward.
Blessed with a canon of a left foot, pinpoint delivery from set plays and pace to burn, the 26-year-old has netted a remarkable seven goals and five assists this season.
Max's crowning moment came against Fortuna Dusseldorf where he bagged a brace and also set up another goal to help his side to a 3-0 victory. Of course, one of them was an unstoppable free kick, which is the defender's trademark.
Alassane Plea (Borussia Monchengladbach)
After losing talisman Thorgan Hazard to Dortmund in the summer, few expected Borussia Mönchengladbach to have much success this season - let alone mount a serious title bid.
And yet, Marco Rose's side currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga table, just six points adrift of leaders Bayern, having led the league for a significant portion of the campaign.
One of Gladbach's star performers has been French forward Alassane Plea. The 27-year-old has struck up a fearsome partnership with Marcus Thuram and Breel Embolo this season, with the trio netting the majority of their side's goals.
Plea has led the line on his own for the majority of the campaign and if Rose's side are to have any chance of closing the gap on Bayern he is going to have to come back firing on all cylinders.
Florian Niederlechner (Augsburg)
The second member of Heiko Herrlich's squad to appear on this list, Niederlechner has been Augsburg's offensive talisman this season.
The 29-year-old has been directly involved in more than half of his side's 36 goals, registering 11 strikes and eight assists.
With talent like this in the side, it is somewhat surprising that Augsburg are 14th in the table - until you look at some of the criminal defending that they've displayed.
The Bavarians have shipped five goals on four separate occasions during the current campaign and if it wasn't for Niederlechner's form, they would be in even deeper relegation trouble.
Robin Quaison (Mainz)
The solitary bright spark in an otherwise disappointing campaign for Mainz has been the form of Sweden international Robin Quaison.
The 26-year-old has managed 12 goals already - the most profilic scoring figures of his career thus far. That's more than Serge Gnarbry, Marco Reus and Kevin Volland. Pretty impressive, ay?
Some of his strikes have been absolute screamers as well. His best goal came against FC Koln back in October. Picking the ball up 30 yards from goal, Quaison swilled into some space before unleashing an unstoppable drive that nearly took the net off.
Suat Serdar (Schalke)
Though a string of niggling injuries have occasionally kept him out of the team this season, Suat Serdar has been Schalke's midfield dynamo when available.
Chipping in with seven goals from just 18 appearances the 23-year-old - who has already been capped several times by Germany - is capable of operating as a number six of number eight and has even been used out wide on occasion.
Stepping into the void left by Leon Goretzka's departure in 2018 was never going to be easy but Serdar has risen to the challenge. He's one to watch in Saturday Revierderby for sure.