Another season of Bayern Munich domination, as they swept to a third consecutive league title, but at the same time there was a slightly underwhelming air about their campaign.

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Irrespective of their Champions League challenge once again fizzing out at the semi-final stage, Pep Guardiola’s second term in charge of the Bavarian giants, at times, seemed an uncomfortable one for the Catalan coach. 

Winning the Bundesliga is a par score for any coach of Bayern and, once again, that test was passed with eight games to spare – a new record – which does go some ways to explaining their awful end-of-season form, losing three of their final five games as the focus clearly slipped.

But the nagging question still remains: has Guardiola improved on the foundations laid down by Jupp Heynckes?

Certainly they are too good for the Bundesliga, emphasised by also breaking the record for most the most points accumulated before the winter break, 45.

But the new identity and methods the 44-year-old was supposed to bring don’t seem to have been fully ingrained in the fabric of the team after two seasons in charge. 

Injuries didn’t help with Guardiola losing, at various stages of the season for extended periods, key first-teamers Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, David Alaba and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

However, that had more effect on their Champions League campaign than it did domestic matters. 

There have also been whisper from within the club of players unhappy with Guardiola’s over-complicated tactical approaches and the DFB Pokal semi-final 
defeat ended any hope of a double, something which symbolically would have gone some way to make up for their European failure.  

That all said, with a goal difference of +62 and a winning margin over second-placed Wolfsburg of 10 points, it only emphasises the sort of intensely high expectations Guardiola is operating under.

Bayern’s traditional rival for the past five years had a disastrous campaign as Dortmund’s form in the first half of the season (four wins from 17) was relegation-worthy and, indeed, in early February BVB found themselves bottom of the Bundesliga. 

A revival, given their quality, was inevitable and Jurgen Klopp deserves credit for finishing the campaign so strongly but with the iconic manager now taking a year out of the game it’s a time for the club to reassess and rebuild under Thomas Tuchel. 

Instead, Bayern’s main foes were Wolfsburg who had the sensational Kevin De Bruyne pulling all the strings and found a regular goalscorer in Dutchman Bas Dost to compete with the best of them. 

Wolfsburg’s points haul of 69 equalled their title-winning campaign of 2008/09, while Dieter Hecking’s men also lost two less games.

It also occurred amid great tragedy for the club as they lost one of the brightest talents in Junior Malanda to a car crash in January, emphasising the fantastic team spirit and togetherness fostered by Hecking at the Volkswagen Arena. 

Providing De Bruyne and Ricardo Rodriguez stay and a few squad refinements are made, that 10 point gap can certainly be closed. 

Wolfsburg’s achievements also slightly stole the thunder of Borussia Monchengladbach who enjoyed their best season since their heyday of the 1970s, finishing third and claiming the third automatic Champions League place, qualifying for the European Cup for the first time in almost 40 years. 

Lucien Favre remains one of the league’s best coaches and is building a seriously strong outfit.

Bayer Leverkusen under Roger Schmidt were, at one stage, probably the best side to watch in Europe before the manager realised having to score three times a game won’t always guarantee success.

Schalke, like rivals Dortmund, also endured a bitterly disappointing season, going through coaches Jens Keller and Roberto Di Matteo and having to sack stars Kevin Prince Boateng and Sidney Sam amid chaos in the dressing room. 

Somewhat fittingly, well-run Augsburg were the beneficiaries of the Ruhr rivals failings, taking fifth for the club’s highest ever finish. 

While at the bottom a thrilling relegation battle saw Paderborn and Freiburg relegated on the final day of the season while Hamburg stayed up by their skin of their teeth yet again.

Player of the year

KEVIN DE BRUYNE

The Belgian was breathtakingly brilliant, finishing with 10 Bundesliga goals and 20 assists. At the heart of everything Wolfsburg did offensively and represents a throwback to the golden age of playmakers.

Young player of the year

JOHANNES GEIS

Mainz’s 21-year old holding midfielder looks set to join Dortmund after a fine year.

Best signing

HAKAN CALHANOGLU

The Turkish No10 was by no means cheap – costing €14.5m from Hamburg – but at 21, with some outrageous ability, including his stunning set-pieces, he’s already worth double that figure.