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Kicker is back with our next set of rankings. The Bundesliga is full of great offensive and defensive midfielders, so how many put in "World Class" performances during the Hinrunde? Three players. That's it.
Offensive Midfielders
Now, before you continue reading, I think we can guess that Kicker considers Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller, and Franck Ribery as forwards. With that said, Mario Götze doesn't qualify as "World Class". While he started the Hinrunde on fire and did well carrying the attack while Robbery was absent, his performances fell off in the second half.
Here are the full rankings.
| World Class | Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) |
| International Class | Mario Götze (Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim) |
| Bundesliga Class | Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen), Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen), Halil Altintop (Augsburg), Raffael (Borussia Mönchengladbach) |
| Honorable Mention | Max Meyer (Schalke), Marc Stendera (Eintracht Frankfurt |
Defensive Midfielders
As you would expect, Kicker rates the first half performances of Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso as "World Class". While FC Bayern had to play the first part of the Hinrunde without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Alonso anchored the midfield. Then, when Lahm went out with his broken ankle, and Bayern continued to roll.
Here are the full rankings.
| World Class | Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Xabi Alonso (Bayern Munich) |
| International Class | None |
| Bundesliga Class | Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Eugen Polanski (Hoffenheim), Daniel Baier (Augsburg), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Pirmin Schwegler (Hoffenheim), Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund), Josuha Guilavogui (Wolfsburg), Johannes Geis (Mainz), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund) |
| Honorable Mention | Vladimir Darida (Freiburg), Christian Gentner (Stuttgart), Matthias Lehmann (Köln), Manuel Schmiedebach (Hannover), Per Skjelbred (Hertha Berlin), Kevin Vogt (Köln) |
What are your thoughts on the rankings? Agree or disagree?