It took a few months longer than expected, but the Bundesliga season is finally in the books. All eyes were on Germany as they became the first major sports league to return after the global pandemic hit, and they went about their business with trademark efficiency.
Bayern Munich did the same under Hansi Flick as they completely dominated en route to their eighth consecutive league championship.
As the rest of Europe’s top leagues wrap up their restarted campaigns, SBOBET takes a look back at all the major storylines of the recently concluded Bundesliga season.
Bayern back to old dominance after Flick switch
For the first few months of the season, the Bundesliga 2020 odds were pointing toward one of the tightest title races in years. That was because Bayern were once again playing below their usually high standards under Niko Kovac, while talented young sides like RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Borussia Monchengladbach were looking strong.
However, that all changed once Bayern finally sacked Kovac in November after a humiliating 5-1 defeat against Frankfurt and replaced him with assistant Hansi Flick. It took the 55-year-old little time to restore Bayern’s dominance once he was in charge.
After losing back-to-back games against Leverkusen and Gladbach, Bayern would go on to win 19 of their last 20 league matches as they ran away with the title.
Perhaps more crucially, they did it while playing the type of football that Pep Guardiola brought to Bavaria. Bayern scored 100 goals this season, just one goal shy of the all-time record of 101 set by the great Bayern side of 1971-72.
Clearly, Bayern made the right decision to make the switch to Flick, who figures to be the man to lead the club for the foreseeable future.
Lewandowski adds to legacy with record-breaking season
Of course, Flick wasn’t the only reason for Bayern’s success this season. They still possess the strongest squad in the league, led by goal machine Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski started the season on an unprecedented scoring spree. He got a goal in each of the first 11 games of the season, becoming the first player ever to do so in the Bundesliga.
After that brilliant start, some wondered whether Lewandowski had a shot at breaking the great Gerd Muller’s amazing record of 40 goals in a single season.
Unfortunately, Lewi fell a bit short of that mark. But he still ended up with 34 goals on the season, which is a new record for most goals in a Bundesliga season by a foreign player. That was also enough to see him win his fifth career Torjagerkanone as the league’s leading scorer.
Lewandowski was already a top Bundesliga star after all his achievements with Dortmund and Bayern, but this brilliant season has further cemented his place among the all-time Bundesliga greats.
Dortmund, Leipzig fall short of title contention
The 2019-20 season started with so much promise for Leipzig and Dortmund. Under the leadership of new manager Julian Nagelsmann, Leipzig came out of the gate on fire, scoring goals for fun. Meanwhile, Dortmund were ready to make another run at Bayern’s title after coming so close the previous year.
However, neither club quite lived up to the hype as they failed to pose a serious challenge to Bayern. Leipzig lost their way after leading the league during the winter break, and Dortmund dropped too many points early in the season, which ultimately cost them dearly.
Both clubs must now cope with the departure of key players. Leipzig’s talisman Timo Werner has already gone to Chelsea. Dortmund have lost hidden gem Achraf Hakimi and could also lose Jadon Sancho, who had another brilliant year with 17 goals and 16 assists.
Dortmund also have a big decision to make in terms of their manager, with serious questions asked of Lucien Favre’s ability to lead the team back to the top.
Leipzig and Dortmund still look like the teams with the best chance to challenge Bayern. Even without Werner, Nagelsmann remains capable of creating a top-tier attack. Dortmund will also benefit from having a full season of wunderkind Erling Braut Haaland, who took the league by storm with 13 goals in just 15 games after his arrival in the winter.
But with Bayern finally sorting things out under Flick, Die Roten will be that much more difficult to dethrone next season.
Schalke 04 still in shambles
Schalke seemed as if they’d also steadied the ship with new manager David Wagner. The Royal Blues had a strong start to the season and were right there in contention for a Champions League spot heading into the winter break.
But Schalke’s Bundesliga 2020 results would go off the rails in spectacular fashion. After winning their first match of 2020, they would go winless for the rest of year, with six draws and 10 defeats.
So instead of getting back into Europe, they finished down in 12th, one place behind newly promoted Union Berlin.
Schalke are one of the richest clubs, not just in Germany, but the world. But it seems they still have some way to go before they are back to competing with the best in the Bundesliga.
Werder Bremen narrowly avoid the drop
Werder Bremen’s run as the fourth-longest tenured side in the Bundesliga (40 years) is still alive — but only just. Bremen just barely avoided relegation this year after beating Heidenheim on away goals in the relegation play-off.
Werder Bremen finally got their act together after the restart, winning four of their nine games to claw their way out of that second automatic relegation spot. That included a dramatic 6-1 win over Koln on the final day to secure that play-off spot as Fortuna Dusseldorf were the ones who went down along with Paderborn.
But while Werder Bremen successfully completed the great escape this year, they have a lot of work to do to avoid another relegation struggle next season.
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