germany league News
Bayern's worst season in decade
Stuttgart clinched their first Bundesliga title since 1992 on the final day of the 2006/07 season. The league's youngest team, average age 25, finished the campaign with 70 points, two points ahead of Schalke. Stuttgart and Schalke both earned a place in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, while third-placed Werder Bremen clinched a qualifying berth.
- Champions: Stuttgart (Champions League)
- Runners-up: Schalke 04 (Champions League)
- Third place: Werder Bremen (Champions League 3rd qualifying round)
- Fourth place: Bayern Munich (UEFA Cup)
- Fifth place: Bayer Leverkusen (UEFA Cup)
- Sixth place and German Cup winners: Nurnberg (UEFA Cup)
- Seventh place: Hamburger (Intertoto Cup)
- Relegated: Mainz, Alemannia Aachen, Borussia Monchengladbach
- Promoted: Duisburg, Hansa Rostock, Karlsruhe
Bayern Munich ended a disappointing campaign in fourth place and earned entry into the UEFA Cup, along with fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Mainz, Alemannia Aachen, and Borussia Monchengladbach were relegated. Karlsruhe, the second division champions, Hansa Rostock and Duisburg were promoted to the Bundesliga.
| teams | titles | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| B. Dortmund | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Werder Bremen | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Stuttgart | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Schalke 04 | - | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Hamburger | - | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 7 |
| B. Leverkusen | - | 15 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Hertha Berlin | - | 5 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Wolfsburg | - | 8 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 15 |
| Hannover | - | 11 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 11 |
| Bochum | - | 9 | 5 | 16 | - | 8 |
| Nurnberg | - | 17 | - | 14 | 8 | 6 |
| Arminia B. | - | 16 | - | 13 | 13 | 12 |
| E. Frankfurt | - | - | 16 | - | 14 | 14 |
| Hansa Rostock | - | 13 | 9 | 17 | - | - |
| Energie Cottbus | - | 18 | - | - | - | 13 |
| Duisburg | - | - | - | - | 18 | - |
| Karlsruhe | - | - | - | - | - | - |
The table shows the overall number of titles since 1992 for each club in German 1. Bundesliga and their league standings in the last five seasons.
"Hot summer" in Munich
Bayern will miss Europe's top club competition for the first time in 11 years. The German giants finished last championship without a trophy, after sweeping the domestic double the previous two years, and will play in the UEFA Cup this season. So, Bayern have invested more than €70m in a new-look team that they hope will recapture domestic dominance and become an international force. In May arrived striker Luca Toni, an important part of Italy's victorious World Cup squad in Germany last year. His €11m transfer Fiorentina was Bayern's first of a series of big-money moves planned for the summer.
This page is introduction to the 2007/2008 German Bundesliga season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Germany page.
France star Franck Ribery joined Bayern Munich from Marseille for a Bundesliga record transfer fee of €25m. The Bavarians have also signed Germany striker Miroslav Klose, paying €15m to obtain the top scorer of last year's World Cup one year before the end of his contract at Werder Bremen. Other new members are Marcell Jansen from Moenchengladbach, Hamit Altintop from Schalke, Jan Schlaudraff from Alemannia Aachen and Jose Ernesto Sosa from Estudiantes, while Brazil midfielder Ze Roberto has returend to Bayern after one year in his homeland at Santos. Several players left the club, including Owen Hargreaves, Roy Makaay, Claudio Pizarro, Roque Santa Cruz, Hasan Salihamidzic and Ali Karimi. Mehmet Scholl has ended his career.
| # | team | points | g.dif. | win-draw-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuttgart | 70 | 24 | 21-7-6 (34) |
| 2 | Schalke | 68 | 21 | 21-5-8 (34) |
| 3 | Werder | 66 | 36 | 20-6-8 (34) |
| 4 | Bayern | 60 | 15 | 18-6-10 (34) |
| 5 | Bayer L. | 51 | 5 | 15-6-13 (34) |
| 6 | Nurnberg | 48 | 11 | 11-15-8 (34) |
| 7 | Hamburg | 45 | 6 | 10-15-9 (34) |
| 8 | Bochum | 45 | -1 | 13-6-15 (34) |
| 9 | Dortmund | 44 | -2 | 12-8-14 (34) |
| 10 | Hertha | 44 | -5 | 12-8-14 (34) |
| 11 | Hannover | 44 | -9 | 12-8-14 (34) |
| 12 | Arminia | 42 | -2 | 11-9-14 (34) |
| 13 | Energie | 41 | -11 | 11-8-15 (34) |
| 14 | Frankfurt | 40 | -12 | 9-13-12 (34) |
| 15 | Wolsfbu. | 37 | -8 | 8-13-13 (34) |
| 16 | Mainz | 34 | -23 | 8-10-16 (34) |
| 17 | Aleman. | 34 | -24 | 9-7-18 (34) |
| 18 | Borus. M. | 26 | -21 | 6-8-20 (34) |
The table displays complete German 1. Bundesliga standings for season 2006/2007.
Everyone is talking about Bayern
Most preseason polls pick Bayern Munich to be the new champions, including 11 of the Bundesliga's 18 coaches. Defending champions Stuttgart, Schalke and Werder Bremen are expected to be the main challengers to new-look Bayern, with some bookmakers tipping Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger and Bayer Leverkusen as possible dark horses. All three have also revamped their roster in the close season.
| team | odds | team | odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | 1.5 | Werder Bremen | 6.5 |
| Schalke | 8.5 | Stuttgart | 14 |
| Hamburger | 17 | Borussia Dortmund | 20 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 30 | Hertha | 67 |
| Wolfsburg | 100 | Nurnberg | 100 |
| Hannover | 250 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 250 |
| Karlsruher | 500 | Bochum | 750 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | 750 | Duisburg | 1000 |
| Hansa Rostock | 1000 | Energie Cottbus | 1000 |
The preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2007/08 German football league.
German Cup (DFB-Pokal) finals in last five years
2003 Bayern Munich - Kaiserslautern 3:1
2004 Werder Bremen - Aachen 3:2
2005 Bayern Munich - Schalke 04 2:1
2006 Bayern Munich - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0
2007 Nurnberg - Stuttgart 3:2
League Cup (DFB-Liga-Pokal) finals in last five years
2003 Hamburger - Borussia Dortmund 4:2
2004 Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen 3:2
2005 Schalke 04 - Stuttgart 1:0
2006 Werder Bremen - Bayern Munich 2:0
2007 Bayern Munich - Schalke 04 1:0
The 2007 German League Cup, with a total €5.2m prize money, involved the top four sides in the Bundesliga last season plus German Cup winners Nurnberg and second division champions Karlsruhe. Bayern won the six-team pre-season tournament and earned nearly €2m in the process, thrashing Werder Bremen 4-1 and Bundesliga champions Stuttgart 2-0 en route to the final.