Wolfsburg become first-time German champions

Felix Magath guided Wolfsburg to their first ever Bundesliga title in 2008-09, but announced his departure from the club before they had been crowned as champions.

With the league title undecided, Magath confirmed he was leaving for Schalke, who ended up finishing eighth in the table.

Wolfsburg’s success was dependant on the goalscoring prowess of attackers Grafite and Edin Dzeko, who scored 54 goals between them and ended up first and second in the top goalscorers chart.

The introduction of the 3. Liga meant the promotion-relegation playoff returned, with Energie Cottbus losing 5-0 on aggregate to Nurnberg to go down.

CHANGES

Bayern Munich had two big changes during the summer, with former forward Jurgen Klinsmann taking his first club coaching job following a spell as Germany manager. Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn hung up his gloves, leaving Klinsmann a decision over the club’s new captain. He appointed Marc van Bommel, a popular but often fiery character.

Klinsmann had only a few new players of note to work with in Munich, with Tim Borwoski and Hans-Jorg Butt the only summer signings, on free transfers from Werder Bremen and Benfica respectively. A slow start saw Bayern draw their opening two games, and inconsistent domestic performances as well as a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Barcelona saw the former striker out of a job by the end of April. Jupp Heycnkes was brought back to the club to steady the ship, with Bayern eventually finishing in second.

Borussia Dortmund appointed Jurgen Klopp as the club’s new head coach, despite the Stuttgart native suffering relegation two seasons earlier with Mainz. However, BVB were in disarray, having finished 13th under Thomas Doll, and needed to bring something new to the club. Klopp looked to improve Dortmund’s defence, adding Neven Subotic from his former club for €4.5 million and Brazilian centre-back Felipe Santana for €2.2m.

Magath was given money to spend at Wolfsburg, and also focused on improving his defence….

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/wolfsburg-become-first-time-german-champions-the-2008-09-bundesliga/124

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-07-29 16:00:00

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