Champion – VfL Wolfsburg: Not many has expected them to be crowned champions. One of the main reason was the strong performance at home ground. They got 16 home wins, 1 draw in the total 17 home matches. One of the home win includes the magnificent 5–1 win over Bayern Munich. Their away games did improve after the winter season break and contributed to their success. They had better away records as compared to the first half of the season’s away records. They did a 5-0 victory against Hannover 96 away from home. Eden Dzeko, Grafite, and Zvejezdan Misimovic were crucial in leading the team to get their very first title.
Runner-up – Bayern Munich: Bayern Munich did not reach the top of the table for the whole season. Not even once. There wasn’t much consistency from the team as Jurgen Klinsmann wasn’t able to get the team going. They conceded lots of goals at home, with a 23 goals out of 17 games. Well, not a lot, but for a team that is seriously challenging for the title, that’s a lot. Conceding this many goals at home, covered all the efforts they made in away games. Their away form was the best among all the other teams. Franck Ribery was relied on too heavily. On his absence, the team could not produce any worthy performance. Not to mention goal creations. The team seems to be having some striker problem, as can be seen in Luca Toni. Although he was the top scorer in the team, he consistently wasted chance after chance to score goals. The team play was slowed down in many occasions because of him. Bayern would definitely need to improve in many aspects, to be a serious contender to be next season’s champions.
3rd place – VfB Stuttgart: Stuttgart should definitely be credited for making a great comeback this season. There weren’t much signs of a recovery until post winter break. Their gaffer Markus Babbel would surely be credited for this. Team spirit was injected back into the team. From being in the slums, to getting back in the title challenge is definitely a feat for applause. Another reason for Stuttgart’s good performance, would surely be Mario Gomez. After the winter break, he managed 17 goals as compared to his pre winter break’s 7 goals. But he would not be playing for them next season though, as the proposed move to Bayern Munich goes through and finalized.
4th place – Hertha Berlin: Hertha Berlin were one of the teams that could have challenged for the title. But they did not hold on till the finishing line, and even caused them a spot in next season’s Champions League. The main reason was most probably the inconsistency of Andrei Voronin. The team were at their peak when Voronin reached his best. So, obviously when Voronin did not perform, the team lost their scoring touch and hit poor form. Marko Pantelic wasn’t up to the task to replace Voronin’s presence when he was placed in the frontlines at the end of the season. Their defense was particularly strong and stood firm throughout the end of the season. Hence the team managed to get marginal wins or held on for draw games. As Voronin would be returning to Liverpool next season, Hertha Berlin would have to find another talismanic striker.
5th place – Hamburg SV: Derby games between Hamburg and Werder Bremen were never dull encounters. This season was of no exception. Hamburg did very well this season and they were favorites who could win the treble (League, DFB Pokal, and UEFA Cup). However, they failed to beat one team, that was Werder Bremen. The main reason resulting to their failure to compete for the treble would be fatigue of players. Piotr Trochowski, Jose Paolo Guerrero, and Mlaten Petric were all hit by fatigue and exhaustion, causing their form to slip rapidly. All but one man, Ivica Olic, who maintained his good form. The rest of his teammates, were too tired to upkeep the team’s form.