Topics: Dortmund, Bayern, Koln, Hamburg, Ausgburg, Monchengladbach, Schalke
Köln’s seasons went up in flames as a Bundesliga giant managed to keep their status despite a season of struggles.

Since the inception of the Bundesliga in 1963, only one team has represented it every season- Hamburger SV. Their status as the Bundesliga’s ‘dinosaur’ was being seriously threatened as Frank Arnesen brought along a line of Chelsea youngsters to represent the Germans. Arnesen almost contradicted the statements he had earlier made about the greatness of the club by bringing in inexperienced players, some of whom failed to settle properly.

Midway through the season, a change of coach saw the helpless Michael Oenning removed for the young and successful Thorsten Fink. Fink is touted as a future head coach of his former club FC Bayern München. HSV huffed and puffed but finally secured survival in the penultimate day of the season. Fink himself admitted that things will need to be much different for HSV next season.

In the Rhein Energie Stadion, the referee blew his whistle before play was supposed to end. Köln fans did not have the heart to wave Lukas Podolski goodbye for one last time. They lit flares and the players had to go off the pitch to allow the police to take care of the situation. Köln, one of the Bundesliga’s biggest clubs had gone down and their departing star felt they deserved no less.

At the other end of the table, Bayern saw their record torn apart. Bayern themselves finished second with a tally of points that would have seen them win the title on 45 of the last 49 seasons. Dortmund beat them by eight points and broke the record set by a Bayern team of the past for the most number of points ever in a Bundesliga season.

Lucas Barrios packed up his bags for China while Shinji Kagawa has decided to leave the club. On the other hand Bayern tied down Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben for the long haul. Daniel Van Buyten decided to stay on for another year to the delight of his bosses. His club will be contesting two finals this season: the DFB Pokal on the 12th of May and the Champions League on the 19th of May.

The best football was almost undisputedly played by Schalke under a manager who is considered to be ‘negative’. Schalke did not really challenge for the league but what they did manage to do was hold on to third ahead of the league’s second biggest surprise package Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The German papers were filled with praise for the trio of Juan Arango, Patrick Hermann and especially Dortmund bound Marco Reus as Gladbach took the season by storm. It was their poor form following Hermann’s injury that saw them drop many points; however their form ultimately improved and they secured fourth spot ahead of Stuttgart.

The biggest surprise package of the season was Augsburg. Seemingly doomed before even the first half of the season ended, Jos Luhukay’s men picked up in the second half to gather enough points against opponents of much higher calibre to ensure that the Bundesliga’s youngest member will fight it out with the big boys for at-least one more season.

The season is not over yet as Hertha and Düsseldorf will play each other to take the last available spot in the league next season. Eintracht will return after one season in the 2.Bundesliga while Greuther Furth will be returning after a long absence.

Finally, this year saw the death of the first ever goal scorer of the Bundesliga, Friedhelm Konietzka. He died at the age of 73. He scored in the first minute of the match between Bremen and Dortmund on 24th August, 1963.

So, its time we all sit back and enjoy the break. And once again, congratulations to the champions, Borussia Dortmund.