Most competitive Hinrunde ever ends with Köln top - December in the 2. Bundesliga

In the final 2.Bundesliga newsletter of 2024, Louis Ostrowski gives a thorough run through all the big players in the German second division and whether they're ending the year on a high or a low.

We’re through the first half of the 2024/25 2.Bundesliga season and somehow we have even less of an idea of how this season is going to pan out than we did at the very beginning. But what a remarkable and unpredictable first half of the season it’s been.

Köln lead the table with 31 points, having taken the lead on the final day of the Hinrunde with a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern. Gerhard Struber’s team were probably the top tip for promotion at the start of the year, so nobody is too surprised that they are now Herbstmeister - but it didn’t seem very likely for most of the season. Effzeh have always been part of the front-running pack but have only actually ended four matchdays in the top six, and didn’t make it into the top three until a week ago.

This season has already seen the lead change six different times, 11 different teams have been in the top three at the end of a matchday, and the year ends with Köln in first even though they’ve spent more time in the bottom half than in the top six. It remains extremely close behind - second placed Karlsruhe are on 29 points, four teams are on 28, and the whole top half is within 5 points of the top.

Köln know that another 31 points might not be enough - 62 points has never been enough to win the title - but with top spot theirs, the team in good form and their transfer ban now lifted, they will fancy their chances of improving further in the Rückrunde and holding on to their current position.