The 2016/2017 Bundesliga season will be remembered as a campaign where new talent shone and different clubs took the fight to the established top two of bayern munich and Borussia Dortmund.
RB Leipzig and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim shone whilst the usual challengers like Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach struggled in mid-table and 2009 champions VfL Wolfsburg embarrassingly ended in the relegation play-off spot.
Ultimately, Bayern Munich had too much for the newcomers from Leipzig and sprinted away in the closing weeks to coast to a fifth successive Bundesliga crown.
It was the perfect finale for skipper Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso who both retired from professional football after the final game of the season.
August - Lewandowski begins where he leaves off
Robert Lewandowski began as he left off with a hat-trick on the opening night of the campaign. Carlo Ancelotti's first game in charge ended with a 6-0 mauling of Werder Bremen. Lewandowski's main rival for top scorer honours all campaign would be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and he also scored twice on the opening weekend as Borussia Dortmund began with a 2-1 home win over Mainz.
September - Leipzig stun Dortmund
However, Dortmund's first away match would signal troubles on the road that would hurt them all season.
They were stunned by Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig, who beat them 1-0 at the Red Bull Arena. Summer signing Naby Keita scored the only goal.
Bayern Munich retained their 100 per cent record with four wins from four in the month. After losing their first three matches, Werder Bremen sacked Viktor Skrypnyk and replaced him with Alexander Nouri.
Just one point from five games saw northern rivals Hamburger SV part company with Bruno Labbadia. Markus Gisdol succeeded him.
October - Marvellous Modeste
Frenchman Anthony Modeste was in marvellous form, scoring seven goals in four matches for an in-form Cologne. His first Bundesliga hat-trick came in a 3-0 victory over Hamburg and he also scored in the Allianz Arena as Cologne became the first side to take points off Bayern Munich in the season.
Leipzig remained unbeaten and their 1-0 victory in Wolfsburg prompted a change in management for the Wolves. Dieter Hecking was let go after just one win in the club's opening seven matches.
November - Newcomers in top spot
Leipzig ended November top of the table after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. On-field captain Willi Orban headed the winning goal in an absorbing Friday night tussle. 24 hours later, Bayern Munich lost their first match of the campaign, beaten in the first 'Der Klassiker' of the season by an Aubameyang goal for Dortmund.
Dortmund couldn't follow that up the following week though as they lost 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished the month in a fabulous third spot.
Salomon Kalou of Hertha Berlin enjoyed a golden Friday night against Borussia Monchengladbch. He scored a hat-trick in Hertha's 3-0 victory, just weeks after the Ivorian suffered two family bereavements in quick succession.
December - A sign of things to come
More managers were being axed in the run-up to Christmas. Darmstadt sacked Norbert Meier after they became the first team to lose to Hamburg in the campaign. Augsburg parted company with Dirk Schuster and accused him of not playing "attractive football," just six months after hiring him. Defeat at home to Wolfsburg also spelt the end of Andre Schubert's reign at Borussia Monchengladbach. One win in 11 games sealed his fate.
Bayern Munich ended 2016 back on top of the table after dismissing Leipzig 3-0 in the final matchday of the calendar year.
Leipzig's unbeaten record had already disappeared after losing 10 days earlier at lowly Ingolstadt. That meant TSG 1899 Hoffenheim ended the year as the sole holders of an unbeaten campaign so far in the Bundesliga.
January - That's what champions do
Julian Nagelsmann was winning high praise for his efforts with the Sinsheim-club but after going 17 matches without defeat, they tripped up 2-1 at RB Leipzig.
Bayern Munich started 2017 at freezing Freiburg. They played poorly but scrapped out a 2-1 win with Lewandowski scoring both goals; the second in injury-time.
February - Another Munich mauling for Hamburg
By now, the title looked very likely to return to its regular home of the Allianz Arena. Leipzig's 3-0 home loss to Hamburg indicated this.
Two weeks later, Hamburg visited the champions which has become a journey to fear. They've lost 8-0, 5-0 and 9-2 in recent seasons. This season, it was another humiliating experience, with another 8-0 defeat and another Lewandowski hat-trick.
There was another poor away day for Borussia Dortmund as they lost 2-1 to bottom-placed Darmstadt. There was also another managerial changes at VfL Wolfsburg. Valerien Ismael was sacked following a 2-1 home defeat to Werder Bremen.
March - All change again at Wolfsburg
Former Arsenal academy coach Andries Jonker was given the task of trying to keep Wolfsburg up. He started well enough, with two wins from three games, including a shock 1-0 victory over Leipzig.
Bayern Munich stretched their lead at the top to 13 points. Their victories included a hard-fought success away to Borussia Monchengladbach where Thomas Muller netted only his second goal of a disappointing campaign.
April - Meisterschale no.26
April was a mixed month for Ancelotti's men. Defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals to Real Madrid and the DFB-Pokal semi-finals to Borussia Dortmund left them with just the Bundesliga to fight for.
Although they did experience a rare defeat in Hoffenheim, it was just a formality before Meisterschale number 26 was secured. And it came in style with a 6-0 away drubbing of VfL Wolfsburg on April 29th. Once again, they had hid from the rest in the Bundesliga.
May - Final day drama in Hamburg
The final day drama came in Hamburg. The home side had to beat Wolfsburg or face a relegation play-off for the third time in four seasons. They avoided that fate with a dramatic 2-1 victory, courtesy of an 88th minute winner from Luca Waldschmidt. That result ensured Wolfsburg ended in the play-off game instead against Eintracht Braunschweig, just two seasons after finishing as runners-up.
Leipzig secured runners-up spot with a 4-1 win in the capital over Hertha Berlin who despite a dreadful away record, finished sixth to qualify for the Europa League alongside Cologne. Two goals on the final day from Aubameyang ensured Borussia Dortmund beat Hoffenheim to third spot and an automatic Champions League spot.
It also gave the Gabonese striker the top scorer award with 31 goals, beating Lewandowski by just one goal.
However, this season once again belonged to Bayern Munich and with a fifth successive title in the bag, you wonder when the success is going to end for the Bavarians as the gulfing class remains in the Bundesliga between them and the rest.
