Love him or hate him (the latter numbers are understandably more) what cannot be denied is the universal singularity of Kahn's name with regards to German football.

In an era where German talent has been pitifully hard to come by, Kahn and his former clubmate Michael Ballack have been leading lights--Kahn especially capturing the imagination with some magical performances in the 2002 World Cup. He finished runner-up in that tournament and a picture of the sultry, disconsolate shot-stopper leaning helplessly against the goalposts showed one side of his characteristics--he doesn't like losing.

Which is why come the final game of the league season in May 2008, don't be surprised if Kahn's resolve sees him lifting the Shield infront of the Allianz Arena faithful. That and the small amount of 69 million Euros that Bayern have pumped into their squad this season.

For when King Kahn steps between the posts against Hansa Rostock on Saturday he will see infront of him talent like never before.

There will be the mercurial Franck Ribery a man known for his blistering pace and mazy dribbles, architect of the French run to the World Cup final in 2006. And then there will be Miroslav Klose, top scorer in the same tournament snapped up from Werder Bremen. Missing will be World Cup winner Luca Toni but with the towering Italian also set for a return, them along with the already eye-catching talents of Bastian Schweinsteiger, the nifty Phillip Lahm and steely Lucio, Bayern have sounded out an early warning to reclaim the trophy they lost to Stuttgart last season.

And what of Stuttgart, surprise champions on the last day? Young tyro Mario Gomez has drawn many admiring glances but they have managed to cling on to their prized asset. Recently named the German player of the year for 2007, Gomez will be hoping to stamp his authority fully this season.

Coach Armin Veh has opted for experience in the form of Yildiray Basturk (of the 2002 Leverkusen fame) and Ewerthon. Watch out too for rising Romanian star Ciprian Marica. Stuttgart have invested well and look set to challenge the big boys yet again.

The tale of Schalke is easily the most enduring. Champions for all of eight minutes (on the final day) last season, Schalke did a Schalke which meant that ultimately everything proved to be futile. Luck deserted them, their players played horribly or some form of previously unheard of disaster came in their way to snatch away a crown they had dreamed of winning. The shocked Mirko Slomka now hopes that the funds he invested in securing replacements will come in handy.

But Schalke wont have it any easy this season either with Werder Bremen amongst the other teams out for revenge. Bestowed the title of 'winter champions' last season Bremen play a fine brand of attacking football full of flair and promise led admirably by the mercurial Diego. The Brazilian has wowed the Bundesliga aplenty but this season will be missing the deadly Klose up front. His replacements have come in the form of the towering Boubacar Sango and the skilful Carlos Alberto a player who has (unknown to many) already won the Champions League with Jose Mourinho's Porto.

But with so many top leagues on the offing why should we watch the Bundesliga?

Well, for one, the amount of goals that are scored in the stadiums across Germany are second to none. In the last few seasons the Bundeslgia has constantly outscored all the other leagues across Europe.

And if that's not good enough for you whereas Europe's soccer leagues are struggling with shrinking audiences, German teams are selling more season tickets than ever.

The passion for the beautiful game is as high as ever.

Two weeks ahead of the start of the new season, the 18 clubs in the league had already sold more than 377,000 tickets -- a new record. Good reason then for the English to dub the it 'the social league.'

Some part of this may be due to the fact that the Bundesliga also this season surpassed the previous transfer record that was set in 2001/2002. Back then, clubs had invested 153 million euros in new legs after getting a lucrative TV deal. This summer, they've already spent 165 million euros ahead of the end of the transfer period on August 31.

For the first time there are truly international stars on show as aforementioned and audiences can't wait to sample a taste of the action.

With a successful World Cup still fresh in the public memory, a Bayern Munich team full of dazzling stars, Werder Bremen playing their own eye-catching style of football and Vfb Stuttgart every ready to spring a surprise, Kahn's farewell season looks set to be a key spectacle.

If it is, it will only be worthy of the great man.

So tune into the Bundesliga on Friday when it kicks-off with a swashbuckling tie. First takes on second as the Swabians host the Royal Blues from the Ruhr.

In conclusion it would only be fitting to end with what English newspaper The Guardian described the attractions of the Bundesliga as: "A crazy race for the title, cheap tickets, sausage, great stadiums and many goals."

Let the action commence.