It was closer than ever before, but Bayern Munich once again managed to retain the Bundesliga title, warding off a powerful but ultimately doomed Borussia Dortmund challenge in the final minutes of the final round.
Bayern’s 11 in a row
It’s now 11 times in a row that nobody managed to topple Bayern from the throne of the German game, the run that started in 2013 when Jupp Heynckess restored the title to the Bavarians after Dortmund’s back-to-back triumphs under Jurgen Klopp. Pep Guardiola then came to strengthen their position, winning three on the bounce, followed by triumphs under Carlo Ancelotti, Heynckess again, Hansi Flick and Julian Nagelsmann. Former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel has now joined that list, having taken over only two months ago.
It was nonetheless a turbulent season for Bayern, a claim proven by the facts that they changed the coach in the middle of the race, that they were destroyed by Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and that they decided to part ways with CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic at the end.
Dortmund’s woe
But for all the praise Tuchel has (rightly) been getting for having his team stick to the task to the very end and reaping the rewards, it has to be said that the title was given to Bayern by Dortmund themselves this time.
Despite losing players like Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland in recent summers, Edin Terzic formed a very good team at the Signal Iduna Park. Going into the final round, they were ahead of Bayern by two points, and a home victory over Mainz 05 would’ve seen them finally displace the “perpetual champions” again.
But less than 25 minutes in, they were 0-2 down, and the task which appeared a routine one before kickoff suddenly became a mountain to climb. Frustration was notable in the faces of the players in the black-and-yellow shirts. Raphael Guerreiro, who now appears set to join Bayern as a free agent, gave them some hope by halving the visitors’ lead with just over 20 minutes to go, but all they managed to do before the end was to avoid defeat, courtesy of a 96th-minute equalizer by former Bayern defender Niklas Sule.
To make matters worse, Dortmund will now lose Jude Bellingham, one of the best players in the league, which always seemed likely to happen with Europe’s biggest clubs competing for his signature. The midfielder, who will turn 20 later this month, appears set to boost the already formidable ranks of Real Madrid, and it remains to be seen how the Bundesliga runners-up spend the fee they’re about to receive – up to €130 million, add-ons included.
Tight at the bottom too
The relegation battle was a fierce one too, and in the end, it’s Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04 who will be moving to the 2. Bundesliga next term, while VfB Stuttgart manage to avoid the drop by beating Hamburger SV in a two-legged play-off tie. HSV had finished third in the second tier, behind Heidenheim and Darmstadt who have directly booked their places among the elite teams in the country.
Hertha’s case was lost ahead of the final round, but Schalke were still in with a chance, needing to beat RB Leipzig who didn’t have anything but pride and a display of utter professionalism to play for. But Leipzig obviously felt those reasons enough to turn on the style and not allow any late-season surprises in front of their home crowd.
The European spots
Speaking of surprises, the biggest one of the season were arguably Union Berlin, who will be joining Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig in the Champions League next season. It took them just four seasons to get here following their promotion in 2019, a respect-worthy achievement indeed.
SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen finished fifth and sixth, respectively, and will be playing the Europa League, while VfL Wolfsburg have a place in the Conference League.
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