So, that was the year that was!
The Bundesliga 2018/19 ultimately went the way the pre-season SBOBET betting odds had forecast with Bayern Munich claiming a seventh successive triumph.
Yet that only told half the story.
Amidst Bundesliga highlights galore, the title race went down to the final day for the first time since 2001 as Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund produced a chase few expected, even holding a nine point lead early in the new year.
Although that finally bore no fruit, much to the disappointment of football romantics, when the dust settles they can still look back at a season to be proud of, including a memorable victory over the reigning champions last November which included some scintillating football.
However, the class and experience of Bayern, under the stewardship of Niko Kovac, finally told as the hardest of their seven straight title successes was sealed and Dortmund relentlessly reeled in.
Remember since 2013, when Bayern won the treble under Jupp Heynckes, winning the Bundesliga by 25 points, they have since won every Bundesliga by at least 10 points until this season.
Looking ahead, Bayern will not quite be the same without Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben but they will move quickly to make sure they strengthen.
Toni Kroos will not be returning to Munich, despite speculation, but some new faces will be with the capture of Lucas Hernandez from Atlético Madrid, for a fee understood to be a club record €80m (£68m), and Benjamin Pavard already on board.
It’s also been confirmed today that Jann-Fiete Arp will join from Hamburg this summer.
Bayern announced in February they had agreed a deal that would see the 19-year-old move at the end of this season or in the summer of 2020.
The decision on when to make the move would be left to Arp, who has decided now is the time to make the switch to the Allianz Arena.
Then there is talk of Max Kruse bring brought in from Werder Bremen as back-up for Robert Lewandowski who again sealed the top marksman award in the Bundesliga with 22 goals – the fourth time he has ended the season with the Torjägerkanone prize.
More recruits will undoubtedly follow and Kovac deserves much credit for steering his, in places, ageing side over the line with a German Cup final still to come.
Dortmund also deserve immense credit and one of the stars of the Black-and-Yellows, talented English winger Jadon Sancho, is now known by many as the ‘next big thing’ with the 19 year-old earning top billing as one of the Bundesliga’s heavyweight performers.
Indeed, his size-able contribution of 12 goals and 14 assists kept them in the race until the very end and there is no reason why they should not mount another genuine challenge next term.
RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen will join the top two in next season’s Champions League.
That left Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg in the spots for the Europa League – the latter will be coached next season by Austrian Oliver Glasner and back in European competition for the first time since 2015/16, when they reached the Champions League quarter-finals.
Should they win their qualifying two-legged tie, they will be joined by Eintracht Frankfurt – semi-finalists in this year’s competition and made to sweat before their place was confirmed.
However, they were done a huge favour by regional rivals Mainz who came back down from two goals down to see off Hoffenheim 4-2. That late collapse pushed Julian Nagelsmann’s side down into ninth, in his final match in charge, and ensured Frankfurt finished seventh.
As he bows out, it should be noted Hoffenheim have taken 191 points from their 116 Bundesliga matches since Nagelsmann took charge in February 2016. Only Munich and Dortmund have collected more points in that time.
Further down the table, Mainz and Freiburg are among those who deserve praise for continuing to preserve their top flight status, despite another year or rotating relatively inexpensive players.
As for game of the season, notable highlights include Schalke’s 4-2 success at nine-man Dortmund as the pressure on the hosts grew; the game that announced Paco Alcacer to a German audience when the Barcelona loanee notched a Dortmund hat-trick in a 31-minute cameo from the bench; Bayern’s 5-0 destruction of Dortmund which turned the tables firmly in their favour and Dodi Lukebakio’s hat-trick as Fortuna Düsseldorf held Bayern on home soil.
As Nuremberg and Hannover slipped out of the Bundesliga, attention will now turn to the play-offs.
Stuttgart, runners-up in the table as recently as 2003, meet Bundesliga 2 side Union Berlin to determine whether they preserve their status or slip down a league at Berlin’s expense.
See, there’s still something to play for just when you thought Bundesliga 2018/19 was done and dusted!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
