Just one year after Borussia Dortmund set the record for the most points in a Bundesliga season with 81 points, Bayern Munich smashed that tally, finishing with 91 points under Jupp Heynckes, losing just once all season.
Heynckes’ lifted the trophy on matchday 28, the earliest title success in Bundesliga history, but confirmed his retirement at the end of the season after also guiding Bayern to the Champions League and DFB-Pokal.
After two titles-in-a-row, Borussia Dortmund slipped to second under Jurgen Klopp, finishing just a point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and 11 ahead of Schalke in the race for automatic qualification to the Champions League group stage.
Eintracht Frankfurt had a fantastic season back in the top flight, finishing in sixth to qualify for the Europa League, just behind Freiburg on goal difference.
CHANGES
Borussia Dortmund decided to strengthen by adding the league’s best young player, Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach for €17 million. They needed to replace Shinji Kagawa, who left for Manchester United for a similar fee, but were further weakened as Lucas Barrios and Ivan Perisic both left during the summer.
Heynckes found the missing piece for his Bayern Munich side, but it came at a high cost as defensive midfielder Javi Martinez was a €40m addition from Athletic Bilbao. Ivica Olic joined Wolfsburg on a free transfer, but another Croatian striker transferred the other direction as Mario Mandzukic moved for €13m. Young winger Xherdan Shaqiri was also signed from Basel, while defender Dante joined from Gladbach.
Borussia Monchengladbach used their transfer windfall to sign Dutch striker Luuk de Jong, Spanish defender Alvaro Dominguez, and Swiss 19-year-old Granit Xhaka. Bayer Leverkusen’s signings were also young players with great potential, including full-back Dani Carvajal and forward Arkadiusz Milik.
Hertha Berlin’s relegation in 2011-12 meant that there were no teams from East Germany competing in the German top flight….
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/bayern-munich-set-new-championship-points-record-bundesliga-in-2012-13/120
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-08-01 17:00:00
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