Bayern Munich picked up a fourth Bundesliga title in a row regardless of strain all through the season from Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund. BVB completed the marketing campaign with 78 factors – three factors greater than the earlier time Dortmund truly gained the league.
Whereas the battle for prime spot went till the second final day of the season, third positioned Bayer Leverkusen have been by no means within the operating to problem Bayern. They completed 28 factors shy of prime spot, with Borussia Monchengladbach one other 5 factors additional again.
Lower than 10 years after profitable the German title, Stuttgart suffered the ignominy of relegation to the two Bundesliga, profitable simply 9 video games all season. Hannover 96 additionally fell out of the highest flight, with Eintracht Frankfurt solely staying up because of a 2-1 combination win over Nurnberg within the playoff.
CHANGES
Dortmund started life after Jurgen Klopp by appointing former Mainz head coach Thomas Tuchel, who had been out of contract for the reason that earlier Might. The brand new boss started life at Westfalenstadion by reshaping the midfield, bringing in Gonzalo Castro and Julian Weigl from Bayer Leverkusen and 1860 Munich respectively. Roman Burki was signed for €3.5 million and took over the vast majority of goalkeeping duties from Roman Weidenfeller.
Pep Guardiola strengthened his Bundesliga holders by spending €37m on Arturo Vidal from Juventus and €30m on Shakhtar Donetsk’s Douglas Costa, with speedy French winger Kingsley Coman becoming a member of on a loan-to-buy deal from Juve as nicely. Guardiola additionally raided Stuttgart for 2 of their key gamers, including Sven Ulreich as a backup for Manuel Neuer and signing Joshua Kimmich as a flexible squad choice.
A few of Bayern’s older gamers left the membership in a big clearout, with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Pepe Reina, and Claudio Pizarro among the many exodus. Thomas Muller, Thiago, and Manuel Neuer acquired new contracts, whereas David Alaba and Jerome Boateng have been additionally given extensions.
Wolfsburg misplaced Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester Metropolis for €75m, making him the Bundesliga’s costliest export ever. Julian Draxler was introduced in from Schalke to switch him, however didn’t stay as much as his predecessor as VfB slipped out of the European locations.
Borussia Monchengladbach seemed to Chelsea to enhance their workforce, loaning Danish defender Andreas Christensen and making the deal for Thorgan Hazard everlasting. Amin Younes returned to the membership from his momentary spell at Kaiserslautern, however was quickly shipped off to Ajax.
Mexican soccer followers started to take a better curiosity within the Bundesliga because of Bayer Leverkusen’s addition of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, who rewarded his new membership with 17 league targets.
SUMMARY
Dortmund started life below Tuchel impressively and led the league for 4 of the primary 5 weeks earlier than Bayern Munich took over on the prime. Tuchel introduced new vitality to the membership after their disappointing seventh-placed end the earlier season, nurturing the connection between Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who netted 54 targets between them in all competitions.
On the finish of the season, Dortmund had scored extra targets than Bayern, however have been finally undone by their poor run of video games in late September and early August the place they drew with Hoffenheim and Darmstadt earlier than being overwhelmed 5-1 on the Allianz Area.
Dortmund solely misplaced as soon as after the winter break, however Bayern have been relentless below Guardiola, who themselves gained 13 of their 17 Ruckrunde matches. They secured a league and cup double, beating Dortmund on penalties within the DFB-Pokal ultimate, however noticed their Champions League hopes dashed by an away targets rule loss to Atletico Madrid within the semi-final.
Stuttgart’s 39-year keep within the German prime flight got here to an finish on the final day of the season when a 3-1 defeat to Wolfsburg noticed them be a part of Hannover 96 within the relegation zone. Borussia Monchengladbach started their season caught on the unsuitable finish of the desk, dropping all of their opening 5 video games, resulting in the exit of head coach Lucien Favre. Beneath Andre Schubert, they’d a exceptional turnaround, profitable the subsequent six video games and finally ending in a Champions League place.
Hoffenheim additionally started their season with no win of their first 5 video games – the primary season ever the place two groups had such dangerous begins – however didn’t fare in addition to Gladbach, and ended up only one level above Eintracht Frankfurt, who have been saved through the promotion-relegation playoff.
PLAYER OF THE SEASON
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN
Armenia worldwide Mkhitaryan was concerned in 30 of Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga targets, getting his identify on the scoresheet 10 instances and organising 20 extra – only one shy of the Bundesliga assists report.
MANAGER OF THE SEASON
ANDRE SCHUBERT
Borussia Monchengladbach had not gained any of their 5 video games when Schubert changed Lucien Favre in late September, however instantly turned issues round and someway guided the workforce to a prime 4 end.
TOP GOALSCORER
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI – 30 GOALS
The Poland worldwide completed 5 targets forward of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and 10 forward of Bayern Munich team-mate Thomas Muller to comfortably safe his second prime scorer award in three years.
TEAM OF THE SEASON
NEUER; LAHM, MATIP, HUMMELS, RODRIGUEZ; MKHITARYAN, VIDAL, WEIGL, MULLER; HERNANDEZ, LEWANDOWSKI
MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFER
Arturo Vidal
Juventus to Bayern
€37m
KEY MOMENT OF THE SEASON
Borussia Dortmund pushed Bayern Munich shut for a lot of the season, however accrued two extra losses than their title rivals over the course of the marketing campaign. They by no means have been in a position to catch up following their 5-1 thumping in Munich, the place ex-BVB stars Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze have been among the many targets.
