Bayern Munich won their 11th consecutive Bundesliga despite an irregular season in which their main rival, Borussia Dortmund, seemed to have a clear path to break Bavarian hegemony on several occasions.
The last day was a reflection of what the season has been like. Dortmund came as the leader, depending on itself. A victory at home against Mainz was enough for him to be champion and in the end it did not go beyond a draw (2-2).
Dortmund led four times in the final part of the season. On all four occasions he lost his game on the day after winning the lead and gave Bayern new life again and again.
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Did Bayern Munich deserve to be crowned Bundesliga champion?
For the Bavarian team, the second part of the season, after the World Cup, It was marked by various crises and setbacks. First, goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer lost due to an injury in a skiing accident. Then there was a drop in performance in which he allowed Dortmund to take ten points off him, which made the end of the season a permanent struggle.
The dismissal of the coach Julian Nagelsmanwho was replaced by Thomas Tuchel, was far from calming the waters at Bayern, which continued to have an irregular performance, sometimes even within the same game.
Bayern didn’t look like Bayern. The “Mía san mia” – “We are who we are” in Bavarian dialect – seemed to have been lost.
However, there was something he was still alive after the penultimate matchday when Bayern lost to Leipzig and Dortmund assumed the lead. “I’m not going into the analysis now. We have to win the game we have left and then we’ll see if Dortmund has been able to handle the pressure. If they succeed, I congratulate them,” said Thomas Müller when asked to analyze a season that seemed to be going being the first without titles for his team in a decade.
al final, Muller was right. Dortmund could not withstand the pressure. Bayern, moreover, was also close to choking on the possibility that he put Dortmund on a platter.
In it minute 81 conceded the tie against Cologne, with a penalty goal. The maximum penalties that have been awarded against Bayern this season, ten in total, are a record. This shows, among other things, that his rivals were close to his goal more often than in other times.
Revolution at Bayern Munich for the 2023-2024 season
Everything indicates that, Despite the Bundesliga, there is going to be a revolution at Bayer. It is taken for granted that in the coming days the departure of Oliver Kahn as president of the Board of Directors and Hasan Salihamidzic as sports director will be made official.
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It is not clear, however, how the club will reorganize itself after a chaotic and traumatic season which, despite everything, closes with a title that few expected. At Dortmund, the analysis of why he was not enough for the title will now begin, having had everything in his hands in a season in which Bayern was faltering.
Dortmund’s second round was impressive. But they couldn’t beat Bayern head-to-head and couldn’t cap off the Bundesliga with a home win either. In the first half of the season, things could have gone better too.
Although Dortmund seems alive and a team with a future, it is quite probable that in the face of next season they will lose some players, as usual. The most desired by the ‘big’ is Jude Bellingham, who will be difficult to retain. It doesn’t have to be Bayern who take the Dortmund players. Others tend to take over the job of weakening him.