It was the Bundesliga season which gave us very few surprises but also hope.
Few surprises in that Bayern Munich cantered to a 10th successive title and a campaign in which Thomas Muller became the first player ever to win 11 Bundesliga titles.
Yet also hope as Eintracht Frankfurt sealed their own fairytale with Europa League success, despite finishing 11th in the domestic standings.
But who stood out across the piece; who created the most Bundesliga highlights; who defied the Bundesliga betting odds?
Here is my team (albeit one a bit lopsided with four forwards) of the season:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
To win a 10th consecutive title shows how Julian Nagelsmann’s side have once again dominated domestic rivals.
From the start the Bavarians set the pace and, although neutrals were willing on Borussia Dortmund to make a challenge, it rarely looked like materialising.
While their talent further forward was crucial, so was their last line of defence as Neuer underlined his status as the league’s top goalkeeper and one of the best in the world.
Indeed, the captain conceded a league-low 24 goals when in the starting line-up and recorded a joint league-best 10 shut-outs. He also repelled 72.7 percent of shots on his goal, whilst usurping legendary predecessor and current club CEO Oliver Kahn in the Bundesliga record books as the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets and player with the most wins.
Nico Schlotterbeck (SC Freiburg)
If Freiburg were one of the teams of the season, so 22 year-old Schlotterbeck was one of the players of the season.
Schlotterbeck is calm in possession, strong in the air, and a great ball-winner. He’s also a threat in attack, scoring four goals and making one assist while registering 18 shots on target through the campaign.
David Raum (Hoffenheim)
Schlotterbeck wasn’t the only new kid on the block who became a fully-fledged German international during 2021-22. Bundesliga 2’s top provider for promotion-winning Greuther Fürth last season, the roaming left-back made a seamless transition to the top tier with Hoffenheim, scoring three goals, a team-leading 11 assists and providing a league-high 183 crosses from open play as Hoffenheim finished comfortably in midtable.
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
It’s easy to forget Canadian Davies is still only 21, so important was he to the champions, marrying defensive diligence with incendiary attacking forays. His input was extra impressive given he missed the first 11 matches of the calendar year due to a mild heart condition. A rising star if ever there was one.
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
While Bayern’s strikers often write the headlines, the performances of Kimmich have been consistently outstanding with excellent passing combined with three goals and 11 assists in 28 matches.
Equally efficient in attack or supporting his defence, Kimmich is the complete midfielder and was described by my SBOTOP colleague as the complete midfielder – Bayern’s pocket-rocket.
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
To finish third was a triumph for Bayer Leverkusen.
One reason they did so well was Wirtz who had 10 assists to complement his seven goals by the beginning of February when a serious knee injury brought a premature end to another eye-catching campaign.
Last December he became the youngest player in history to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances. To think he only made his top-flight debut in May 2020. Let’s hope he makes a full recovery.
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
No footballer has ever won the Meisterschale 11 times in their career. No player in Germany has ever been champion so many times before. That, in itself, sums up his contribution not just this term but over many seasons. A special player.
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
A phenomenal talent; what else can be said about one of football’s hottest properties.
He is no stranger to Bundesliga records. Earlier this season, he became the quickest player ever to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, doing so in as many appearances, and at one point was hitting the back of the net once every 56 minutes. The Manchester City-bound Norwegian concludes his time at Dortmund with 61 strikes in 66 top-flight games, including 21 in 23 this term – seven doubles and a hat-trick among his haul.
But for injuries, the 21 year-old would likely have run Robert Lewandowksi closer in the top scorer’s race.
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Another player who could not be left out.
The Pole netted a league-leading 34 times for the record champions, averaging a goal every 84 minutes whilst only failing to score in 10 of his 33 appearances. LewanGOALski also broke the Bundesliga record for most single-season away goals (18) to put him on the brink of becoming the first player in Bundesliga history to win five top scorer’s cannons in a row, as well as seven outright.
The recent bombshell that he want to leave will only hurry the fact Bayern were going to need to replace him soon anyway.
If this is his Bundesliga swansong, then what a swansong – 35 goals in all competitions and the main reason why Bayern won their 10th straight domestic trophy.
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
A breakout season for the Leipzig man who finished joint fourth in the goalscoring charts with 20 goals and 13 assists.
The France striker has recently been awarded the title of “Bundesliga Player of the Year” having won the monthly award four times. Nkunku’s tally is bettered only by three others in my team of the year, the final one of which is…
Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)
The Czech striker impressed me during Euro 2020 last summer, where he narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot, and has done so again.
He successfully carried his fine form over to this Bundesliga campaign as he scored 24 goals, the same number he’d managed since his big move to Roma back in 2017. Schick finished second in the Bundesliga goal charts behind only Lewandowski and helped Leverkusen to a surprise third-place finish – their highest finish in six years.
A final word to Cologne’s Anthony Modeste who only just misses out after his 20 goals helped Koln defy the Bundesliga 2022 odds as they finished seventh to qualify for the Europa Conference League. Not bad for a 34 year-old deemed to have had his best days behind him.
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