Borussia Dortmund is indeed a team expected to provide stiff competition to Bayern Munich every season, but as we know, their focus isn't on winning the title; they prioritize their business. Hopefully, they can show something even better this season.
Regarding Leverkusen, I was honestly skeptical of them after Xabi left. It's undeniable that Xabi was a major driving force behind their improvement and even their title success. Furthermore, the coach appointed to replace him was also less than convincing.
Dortmund WAS a team like that, but for a few years they were good enough, so it is not like that difficult. This is why I think it's clear that we are not going to see this become a different topic. It is what it is and we are not going to see it change.
Dortmund just recovered from that bad period, all horrible transfers and a bad manager with Nuri Sahin. Don't get me wrong, Nuri Sahin isn't a terrible manager, he just wasn't the right fit for Dortmund, he could have been much better at some other team. So that is why we should be considering how this could change, and we can definitely end up being better results. Dortmund made better transfers and already have a great manager so they could do a lot better this year.