Once again an entertaining season of Bundesliga football has come to an end. Bayern Munich were crowned champions yet again, although they did huff and puff towards the season end; Wolfsburg and M nchengladbach played some terrific football; Schalke and Hamburg disappointed yet again; Dortmund went into self-destruct mode and Augbsurg surprised everyone with European qualification. There were amazing goals, heart stopping late drama, blink-and-youa ll-miss-it moments and some downright crazy action.
Without further ado, here are the best moments from the German top flight, in no particular order:
(All videos from the official Bundesliga youtube channel)
1) Moritz Stoppelkamp scores from his own half
Paderborn may have been relegated at the end of the season, but looked very much like top-flight candidates in the first half of the season and scored some beautiful goals in their short stay in the Bundesliga. The best of the bunch was Stoppelkampa s goal from 82 metres out. Trailing by a goal, the visiting keeper made the venture forward during the gamea s final minute only for him to be beaten with this spectacular effort.
2) Keepers set the league on fire
There is no doubt that the Germany is the home of the best goalkeepers in the world. The routine excellence of Bayerna s Manuel Neuer, a Gladbacha s Yann Sommer and Freiburga s Roman BA?rki were just the tip of the iceberg. German under 21 keepers in K lna s Timo Horn, Leverkusena s Bernd Leno and Mainza s Loris Karius were largely vital for their respective teama s success which could put them on the cusp of a place in the national team. Further, Augsburga s Marwin Hitz became only the second ever keeper to score from open play courtesy a late equalizer at Leverkusen.
3) Bas Dost scores four in a nine goal thriller
Bayer Leverkusena s 4-5 loss to Wolfsburg in February saw both Heung Min Son and Bas Dost score thrice, with the Dutch striker grabbing a fourth as well with the last kick of the game. Wolfsburg led 3-0 at half time but a quick double from Son made it 3-2 to rattle the visitors, who did manage to score again only to concede two more. With the score level at 4-4, Dost scored with the last kick of the game to hand the Wolves a memorable victory.
4) Karim Bellarabi scores the fastest ever Bundesliga goal
Matchday 1 at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund and seconds in, we were treated to the quickest ever Bundesliga goal. Following kick-off, Leverkusena s Sebastian Boenisch teed up Karim Bellarabi to finish off in style, with just 9 seconds on the clock.
5) Frankfurt and Stuttgart serve up a cracker of a game
Free scoring Frankfurt hosted struggling Stuttgart back in October in yet another nine goal game. Frankfurt trailed 1-3 before half-time but managed to turn things around by scoring thrice to lead 4-3. However, the stunning comeback didna t give them the three points as Stuttgart score twice late on. Alex Meier, Stefan Aigner and Alexander Madlung (x2) scored for Frankfurt and Martin Harnik (x2), Christian Gentner (x2) and Timo Werner netted for the visitors.
.
6) Matchday 34 and the relegation battle was one of the best ever
The last matchday could possibly have seen any of the bottom 6 teams (Hertha, Hannover, Stuttgart, Freiburg, Hamburg and Paderborn) relegated and it didna t disappoint. With all matches played at the same time, the bottom 2 places were constantly passed between the bottom 6 like a ticking bomb until the timer ended which left Freiburg and Paderborn at the foot of the table and Hamburg in the play-offs. Nail biting till the very end.
7) Christoph Kramer scores the goal of the season a at the wrong end
World cup winner Christoph Kramer certainly made the headlines after this peach of a goal away at rivals Dortmund, where he perfectly lobbed the out of position keeper from near the halfway line. The catch? It was at the wrong end.
8) Dortmund get back on track by beating rivals Schalke
Rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke were on opposite ends of the table when they squared up to each other on matchday 23. Dortmund desperate for a win, following their terrible end to 2014, were frustrated by the Schalke defence who looked like they would succeed at the Signal Iduna Park. However, the pressure paid off for Dortmund as Reus, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan scored to hand the 3 points to Dortmund. The victory was not only sweet because it was against local rivals, but also because it was the game that set them on course for European qualification, lifting from the bottom half of the table. A hugely entertaining game with important consequences (and superhero masks).
9) Wolfsburg outclass Bayern in all departments
In the first game after the winter break, second placed Wolfsburg hosted runaway leaders Bayern Munich at the Volkswagen Arena and gave them a lesson on how to play football with a 4-1 win. Kevin De Bruyne , Maximilian Arnold and Bas Dost terrorized the Bayern backline and notched up a few spectacular goals too. With their defence containing the Bayern frontline as well, it was nothing short of a perfect performance from Wolfsburg. De Bruyne(x2), Dost (x2) and Juan Bernat were the scorers.
10) Pep Guardiola has a a spata with the fourth official
The sideline antics of Pep Guardiola was a rather fun spectacle to behold in Bayerna s 1-1 home draw to Schalke. The manager felt he was wronged when Lewandowskia s goal was disallowed and a corner was awarded instead. His emotions got the better of him and gave the official quite an earful. He did make amends by hugging the official as Bayern scored from the resulting corner.