Bayern Munich once again stood alone atop the Bundesliga standings this past season and ran away with the title by a 10-point margin. As is often the case, the player that benefited most from a fantasy perspective was their goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer. He received recognition as one of the best goalkeepers in the world regardless of how dominant Bayern was as a team and in this case, there was no doubt about where he stood among his peers. Not only was he great in reality, he was great in fantasy too and he kicks off our list of the five best keepers for fantasy in the Bundesliga this season.
Manuel Neuer, FC Bayern Munich
Neuer helped Bayern to a ridiculous 25 wins overall this season, which is quite impressive as nobody else had more than 20 and only three teams had more than 15. His 20 clean sheets were four more than any other goalkeeper in the Bundesliga this past season as Bayern allowed a total of 18 goals in 34 matches. To put that in perspective, second-place VfL Wolfsburg allowed 38.
Neuer’s 75 saves had him ranked 16th overall in that category for Germany’s top division but the fact that he had so many wins and clean sheets while allowing only 18 goals the entire year left him alone with top fantasy honors at his position. Critics will point to the relatively low shot totals that Neuer faces at Bayern as reason why he shouldn’t be so high on this list but nobody cares about that in fantasy. They care about results and stats, and the numbers indicate Neuer was No. 1 on this list once again this past season.
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Yann Sommer, Borussia Monchengladbach
Sommer’s 132 saves were the second-most in the Bundesliga behind only Roman Burki of SC Freiburg and a big reason why he ranked second in Germany’s top flight as one of the league’s top fantasy goalkeepers. Sommer played an absolutely pivotal role in his club finishing third in the league title race behind Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg as evidenced by the fact that they only allowed 26 goals this season – the second fewest in the Bundesliga. Only Neuer and Bern Leno finished with more clean sheets overall, so if you had Sommer, you were quite pleased with what he delivered this season.
Bernd Leno, Bayer Leverkusen
Leno was excellent from start to finish for Bayer Leverkusen as his 16 total clean sheets was second only to Neuer’s 20 and his 17 wins also ranked among the best in the Bundesliga. Leno finished the season with only five more saves than Neuer recorded at 80 but his win and clean sheet totals were more than high enough for him to take the third spot on this list.
Timo Horn, FC Cologne
The fact that Horn makes this list is quite impressive considering his team finished 12th in the standings. However, they only gave up 40 goals this season, which is the fourth best number in the league.
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Horn’s 117 saves marked the fourth-highest total in Germany’s top division this season, so he was clearly quite busy. However, he was very effective as he registered 13 clean sheets in his 33 starts for FC Cologne. Few were able to match the save percentage and relative goals against average that Horn posted for the season and those are the two most obvious reasons why he is ranked so high on this list.
Marwin Hitz, FC Augsburg
FC Augsburg had a strong season, finishing just outside of the top four and qualifying for a spot in the Europa League thanks in big part to the play of Hitz in goal. Hitz made 90 saves and finished the year with nine clean sheets but the fact that he made this list is even more impressive when you consider that he made only 25 starts this season. The 27-year-old is likely to see a whole lot more action going forward.
