Bayern Munich’s run of Bundesliga titles came to an end as Matthias Sammer’s Borussia Dortmund unseated their rivals at the top of the table in 2001-2002.
Sammer had done well in his first season at Dortmund, but was even better in the second, adding another Bundesliga medal to the three he had won as a player.
The title race was a three-horse race right until the end of the season, with Dortmund finishing just a point clear of Bayer Leverkusen and two ahead of Bayern.
Hertha Berlin and Schalke were seven points further back, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, with Werder Bremen also joining them in the top six.
CHANGES
Sammer continued to shape Borussia Dortmund the way he wanted, and broke the Bundesliga transfer record by spending 50 million DM on Brazilian striker Mario Amoroso from Parma. The forward proved an instant hit, finishing the season as joint top scorer.
As part of the deal, Evanilson was sold to Parma for 34m DM, but then was immediately loaned back to Dortmund, while defensive midfielder Sebastian Kehl came in from Freiburg.
Werder Bremen top scorer Claudio Pizarro moved to Bayern Munich for 16m DM, with Robert Kovac also arriving in Munich for almost 17m DM from Bayer Leverkusen. Having won the league with the last kick of the season in the previous campaign, Patrik Andersson exited Bayern for Barcelona.
Goalscoring goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt joined Leverkusen on a free transfer from Hamburg and finished the season with two goals in the league – both from the penalty spot. Leverkusen’s biggest outlay was 12m DM on full-back Zoltan Sebescen, who became a key player under head coach Klaus Toppmoller.
SUMMARY
Bayer Leverkusen continued their tradition of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride as they failed to capitalise on Bayern Munich slipping up. Having won the league for three years in a row, Bayern ended up in third place, but Leverkusen were this time second-best to Borussia Dortmund.
With three games to go, B04 led the league by five points…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/when-dominant-dortmund-put-bayern-in-their-place-bundesliga-in-2001-02/133
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Ronan Murphy)
Publish date : 2024-07-22 12:00:00
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