When Klopp’s young guns stopped Bayern in their tracks

Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga title for the first time in nine years as Jurgen Klopp got the best from his young squad to finish seven points clear of Bayer Leverkusen and 10 above Bayern Munich.

Jupp Heynckes had another successful season with Bayer Leverkusen, resulting in Bayern Munich seeking him out at the end of the campaign to replace Andries Jonker, who took a caretaker role following the dismissal of Louis van Gaal.

Thomas Tuchel’s Mainz also performed above expectations, finishing fifth and qualifying for the Europa League. Schalke, Wolfsburg, and Borussia Monchengladbach all finished near the bottom of the table, with Gladbach only surviving via the playoff.

Eintracht Frankfurt and St Pauli were not so lucky, and both suffered relegation to 2. Bundesliga.

CHANGES

Borussia Dortmund brought in young talented, signing Polish centre forward Robert Lewandowski for less than €5 million, while Shinji Kagawa and Moritz Leitner both arrived for less than €500,000 combined. Teenage midfielder Mario Gotze was promoted from the reserves, and finished the season with 11 assists and a call-up to the Germany squad.

Bayern Munich did not spend as heavily as in 2009-10, with Luis Gustavo from Hoffenheim their only big outlay at €17m. David Alaba was loaned to TSG, having been promoted from Bayern’s reserves.

Wolfsburg appointed Englishman Steve McClaren as their new head coach, who brought Diego back to the Bundesliga through a €15m transfer with Juventus. Simon Kjaer was a €12m addition from Palermo, while €7m was spent on Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic, who replaced Manchester City bound Edin Dzeko (a €37m sale). Zvjezdan Misimovic had been one of the Wolves’ best performers in recent years, but was allowed join Galatasaray for €8.5m.

Schalke’s main aim during the summer was to strengthen their attack, spending €25m total on Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Jose Manuel Jurado. Defenders Rafinha and Heiko Westermann were sold to Genoa and Hamburg…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/when-klopps-young-guns-stopped-bayern-in-their-tracks-bundesliga-in-2010-11/122

Author : [email protected] (Ronan Murphy)

Publish date : 2024-07-31 15:00:15

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