Poor Mid-Term Report Card

European soccer's governing body UEFA only publishes its league rankings at the end of the season. But in the latest calculations using the UEFA system, the Bundesliga only ranks seventh this year -- behind Romania, England, Italy, Spain, France, Russia and Bulgaria.

And that could mean one team fewer in the Champions League. Germany is still in fifth place ahead of Portugal and Romania in UEFA's all-important five-year rankings. But for the first time less than two points separate the Bundesliga from the seventh spot.

If the Bundesliga falls a couple more notches, German clubs would only be allocated two -- and not the current three -- berths in the Champions League. Fans and team management are worried.

Rules or Results?

Last week, Bayern Munich Vice-Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge lashed out at the UEFA rankings system, which awards points for wins in both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. "I cannot accept that Romania are a danger to the Bundesliga because they collect their points in the UEFA Cup," Rummennige fumed. "It's a joke."

But others disagree, pointing out that in fact the UEFA does award extra points for Champions League results. "The system reflects teams' performances," soccer journalist Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger told DW-online. "And in any case the rules are the same for everyone."

So what's caused such a mighty come-down for a league that once dominated European soccer?

Hamburg and Other Catastrophes

Much has been made of Hamburg's failure to earn a single point in this year's Champions League -- the worst performance ever by a Bundesliga side in that competition. Critics also complain that no German team has won a major European club tournament since 2001, and that even mighty Bayern have fallen out of the UEFA top ten.

"If you look at the Champions League, there's a clear difference in quality," Reiner Holzschuh, editor-in-chief of the German soccer magazine kicker, told DW-online. "The only teams we have that can compete at that level are Bayern and maybe Bremen."

But the Bundesliga's precipitous decline has just as much to do with its perennial also-rans as with its leading lights. "The teams a bit further back are equally important," explained Hesse-Lichtenberger. "What we need are not necessarily teams winning the Champions League, but making the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup."

Hertha Berlin and Schalke are already out of that competition after losing to smaller clubs against which they were heavily favored. That's put the burden on Bundesliga strugglers Leverkusen and Frankfurt to pick up much-needed points.

The Money Question

Bundesliga managers never tire of complaining that there's more money floating around in other leagues -- chiefly Spain, England and Italy -- than in the Bundesliga. And there's some validity to that argument.

"We have to accept that we're going to lose some matches against Spanish clubs," Hesse-Lichtenberger conceded. "But at the same time we have to win against Belgian or French teams."

Getting results against underdogs could become even more important, if French soccer legend Michel Platini gets his way. Platini, who's vying to become UEFA's next president, says he'd like to give smaller leagues, especially in Eastern Europe, more berths in international competitions -- at the expense of the continent's traditional powerhouses.

In any case, German soccer fans have to hope that the few German clubs still alive in international competition pick up enough points to brakes on the league's perilous slide. "It's quite clear, said Hesse-Lichtenberger, "that we've got big problems this year." The league that once ruled the roost is in danger is of tumbling down the ladder.

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