Merit Ranking
| Pos | ↑↓ | Team | MR | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern | 51.69 | 45 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 56 | 15 | |
| 2 | Leverkusen | 44.64 | 41 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 44 | 24 | |
| 3 | Eintracht | 37.91 | 36 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 24 | |
| 4 | Stuttgart | 33.57 | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 26 | |
| 5 | Leipzig | 30.64 | 31 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 27 | |
| 6 | Mainz | 28.88 | 28 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 31 | 23 | |
| 7 | Wolfsburg | 28.79 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 40 | 32 | |
| 8 | +1 | Werder Bremen | 25.19 | 26 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 34 |
| 9 | +1 | Borussia Dortmund | 24.41 | 25 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 32 | 31 |
| 10 | -2 | Freiburg | 23.88 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 34 |
| 11 | Monchengladbach | 23.03 | 24 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 29 | |
| 12 | +1 | U.Berlin | 18.26 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
| 13 | -1 | Augsburg | 17.21 | 22 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 33 |
| 14 | FC St. Pauli 1910 | 16.94 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 21 | |
| 15 | Hoffenheim | 15.80 | 17 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 35 | |
| 16 | 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 | 14.49 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 38 | |
| 17 | Holstein Kiel | 12.36 | 11 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 26 | 46 | |
| 18 | VfL Bochum 1848 | 8.88 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 40 |
MR= Merit Ranking Points, Pts=Points, GP=Games played, W=Win, D=Draw, L=Loss, GF=Goal for, GA=Goal against
Merit Ranking is based on an algorithm (Merit Ranking) which considers between other thing the way the result was achieved. Additional factors are calculated in a victory, draw, or loss: the ranking position of the respective teams, the number of goals, home vs. away factor, etc.
For example: winning 1-0 will give you different score then winning 4-0. The official ranking assigns 3 points to the team in every victory, however, it does not consider the better scoren, it does not consider the position of the teams, and it does not consider home vs. away. So if the last team in the ranking wins vs the first team, it will receive a higher bonus score, this is because Merit Ranking considers the point difference between the 2 teams.
An important element of this algorithm is that it takes into account the points difference of the two teams played to the last round of the championship.
To give an example, if it is the 18th round, the algorithm recalculates from the first round, taking into account the points difference between the teams of each match, updated to the current ranking (18th round) and not round in which the match was played.
This algorithm was developed as an academic exercise, under no circumstances it was created to generate arguing and discussions. The main object is to display the ranking in another interesting way.