The Bundesliga season finished as everyone thought it would, with Bayern Munich hoisting its 25th title. However, the season was not as vanilla as everyone might have expected it to be last August. Teams fell from prominence, new powers emerged, and as always, there was plenty of drama off the pitch too.
Borussia Dortmund’s early season struggles
Perennial challengers Borussia Dortmund had one of the most underwhelming starts to a campaign in recent memory. As had been the case for many seasons prior, fans believed Bayern’s only genuine challengers would be The BVB. The fight put up by Dortmund was over before it even began, largely due to a series of injuries to key players. At the halfway point of the season the club found themselves in 17th place and in the relegation zone, having only won four of 19 matches. Klopp ultimately guided his extremely talented squad to seventh place and the DFB Pokal final, which it must win to avoid the qualifying stages of the Europa League.
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Jurgen Klopp leaves Dortmund after an amazing seven years
Jurgen Klopp enjoyed a fine managerial spell at Dortmund that spanned seven years. With Klopp at the helm, Borrusia Dortmund wrestled the Bundesliga title off Bayern twice, along with the DFB Pokal once. Another highlight of his time at the club was finishing runners-up to Bayern in the 2012-13 Champions League. However, on April 15 Klopp decided to finally call it quits. Some might put this down to Dortmund’s appalling start to its campaign, but many believe the time is right for Klopp to challenge himself elsewhere. He still has one match remaining, the DFB Pokal final, which will be contested against VfL Wolfsburg. A win would be the perfect way to send off one of the Bundesliga’s greatest ever managers. Klopp will be replaced by another highly regarded ex-Mainz manager in Thomas Tuchel.
Roberto Di Matteo comes and goes at Schalke 04
After Schalke’s early season struggles under manager Jens Keller it decided to bring Champions League winner Roberto Di Matteo to the club to straighten out its issues. The spell of seven months in charge proved to be non-beneficial for both Schalke and Di Matteo – the club failing to reach the Champions League and only just clinging on to a Europa League position after playing some lacklustre football. Di Matteo’s reign also accompanied unrest amongst the squad, namely Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sidney Sam, who will be moved on in the transfer window after failing to meet Schalke’s requirements. Di Matteo announced his resignation on the 26th of May and The Royal Blues will be hoping for smoother sailing next season under a new manager with a fresh squad.
VfL Wolfsburg become Bayern’s new ‘little brother’
For many seasons Dortmund has been Bayern’s ‘little brother’, snapping at its heels and challenging the side in the Bundesliga and Europe. This season has seen a changing of the guard due to Dortmund’s atrocious start to the season, allowing Wolfsburg to take the mantel as Bayern’s number one challengers. There is still much work for the Wolves to do, given that they still fell 10 points shot of Bayern. The additions of world-class talent in Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne were a big reason behind the side’s second place finish. Wolfsburg will look to push on next campaign and take the fight to Bayern on both the home and European front.
FC Augsburg’s fairy-tale Europa League qualification
Not many fans or pundits would have tipped Augsburg to finish ahead of powerhouses Schalke and Dortmund at the beginning of the season, but that is what the small club have managed. In doing so, the club has surprised everyone by qualifying for the Europa League. Augsburg has only been in Germany’s top flight for four seasons, and has had a stellar 2014-15 campaign. Statistically, the club hardly stands out as obvious Europa League candidates, but its fighting spirit that has propelled them to heights they would not have dreamed of four years ago. Augsburg did not only win games against Bundesliga battlers – they also managed to defeat Champions League bound Borussia Monchengladbach twice, as well as overcoming superpowers Bayern, Dortmund and Wolfsburg.
A breathtaking relegation battle
Perhaps the most enthralling battle of any European league’s last day was found in Germany. A third of the Bundesliga faced the possibility of relegation or at least the relegation play-off position. Three points separated the bottom five teams and four of those teams would play each other on the last day. SC Paderborn 07 and SC Freiburg would ultimately end up feeling the crunch of relegation, and finished in the 18th and 17th positions. The Bundesliga’s only ever-present club Hamburg SV still face the possibility of falling to the second tier if it loses its relegation play-off game.
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