2008–09 Bundesliga
46th season of the Bundesliga
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The 2008–09 Bundesliga was the 46th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 15 August 2008 with a 2–2 draw between defending champions Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV and ended with the last matches on 23 May 2009.[5] VfL Wolfsburg secured their first national title in the last match after a 5–1 win at home against Werder Bremen.
1st Bundesliga title
1st German title
Karlsruher SC
Arminia Bielefeld
| Season | 2008–09 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 August 2008 – 23 May 2009 |
| Champions | VfL Wolfsburg 1st Bundesliga title 1st German title |
| Relegated | Energie Cottbus (via play-off) Karlsruher SC Arminia Bielefeld |
| Champions League | VfL Wolfsburg Bayern Munich VfB Stuttgart |
| Europa League | Hertha BSC Hamburger SV Werder Bremen (via domestic cup) |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 894 (2.92 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Grafite (28) |
| Biggest home win | Dortmund 6–0 Bielefeld (16 May 2009)[1] |
| Biggest away win | Frankfurt 0–5 Bremen (13 May 2009)[2] Hannover 0–5 Wolfsburg (16 May 2009)[3] |
| Highest scoring | Bremen 5–4 Hoffenheim (27 September 2008)[4] (9 goals) |
| Average attendance | 42,565 |
← 2007–08 2009–10 → | |

Changes from 2007–08
Structural changes
Starting with the 2008–09 season, two-legged relegation playoffs between the third last team of the Bundesliga and the third team of the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the regular season were re-introduced.
Due to the restructuring of European competitions, the third-placed team qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, entering in a separate qualifying round for non-champions. The fourth-placed team and the winner of the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League play-off round; the fifth-placed team qualified for the third qualifying round. The sixth-placed team did not qualify for any European competitions because the UEFA Intertoto Cup was not continued after its final edition in 2008.
Promotion and relegation
1. FC Nürnberg, Hansa Rostock and MSV Duisburg finished the 2007–08 season in 16th through 18th place, respectively, and therefore were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. They were replaced by the top three teams of 2007–08 2. Bundesliga: Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1899 Hoffenheim and 1. FC Köln, respectively.
Teams
Stadia and locations
| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hertha BSC | Berlin | Olympic Stadium | 74,228 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Bielefelder Alm | 28,008 |
| VfL Bochum | Bochum | rewirpowerSTADION | 31,328 |
| Werder Bremen | Bremen | Weserstadion | 42,358 |
| Energie Cottbus | Cottbus | Stadion der Freundschaft | 22,450 |
| Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund | Westfalenstadion | 80,708 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Commerzbank-Arena | 52,300 |
| Hamburger SV | Hamburg | HSH Nordbank Arena | 57,274 |
| Hannover 96 | Hanover | AWD-Arena | 49,000 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | Sinsheim | Rhein-Neckar-Arena1 | 30,000 |
| Karlsruher SC | Karlsruhe | Wildparkstadion | 32,306 |
| 1. FC Köln | Cologne | RheinEnergieStadion | 50,374 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Leverkusen | BayArena2 | 22,500 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mönchengladbach | Borussia-Park | 54,067 |
| Bayern Munich | Munich | Allianz Arena | 69,901 |
| Schalke 04 | Gelsenkirchen | Veltins-Arena | 61,673 |
| VfB Stuttgart | Stuttgart | Mercedes-Benz Arena | 58,000 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | Wolfsburg | Volkswagen Arena | 30,122 |
- Notes
- 1899 Hoffenheim played their 2008 home matches at Carl-Benz-Stadion in Mannheim because their Rhein-Neckar-Arena had not yet been completed.
- Bayer Leverkusen played their 2009 home matches at LTU-Arena in Düsseldorf because their BayArena was being upgraded to a capacity of 30,000.
Personnel and sponsoring
- Notes
- Jupp Heynckes acted as caretaker for the remainder of the season.
- Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck acted as caretakers for the remainder of the season.
- Ein Herz Für Kinder took the place of Volkswagen's sponsorship during the 2008–09 season to celebrate the 20th year of the Charity.
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayer Leverkusen | Sacked | 30 June 2008[citation needed] | 1 July 2008[citation needed] | Pre-season | ||
| Bayern Munich | End of contract | 30 June 2008[6] | 1 July 2008[7] | Pre-season | ||
| Borussia Dortmund | Resigned | 30 June 2008[citation needed] | 1 July 2008[citation needed] | Pre-season | ||
| Hamburger SV | End of contract | 30 June 2008[8] | 1 July 2008[9] | Pre-season | ||
| Schalke 04 | Stepped down to assistant position |
30 June 2008[10] | 1 July 2008[10] | Pre-season | ||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Sacked | 5 October 2008[11] | 18 October 2008[12] | 18th | ||
| VfB Stuttgart | Sacked | 23 November 2008[13] | 23 November 2008[13] | 11th | ||
| Schalke 04 | Sacked | 26 March 2009[14] | 1 April 2009[15] | 8th | ||
| Bayern Munich | Sacked | 27 April 2009[16] | 27 April 2009[16] | 3rd | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld | Sacked | 17 May 2009[17] | 19 May 2009[18] | 16th |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VfL Wolfsburg (C) | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 80 | 41 | +39 | 69 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 71 | 42 | +29 | 67 | |
| 3 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 64 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 63 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 5 | Hamburger SV | 34 | 19 | 4 | 11 | 49 | 47 | +2 | 61 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 6 | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 60 | 37 | +23 | 59 | |
| 7 | 1899 Hoffenheim | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 63 | 49 | +14 | 55 | |
| 8 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 50 | |
| 9 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 59 | 46 | +13 | 49 | |
| 10 | Werder Bremen[a] | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 64 | 50 | +14 | 45 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 11 | Hannover 96 | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 49 | 69 | −20 | 40 | |
| 12 | 1. FC Köln | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 39 | |
| 13 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 60 | −21 | 33 | |
| 14 | VfL Bochum | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 32 | |
| 15 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 39 | 62 | −23 | 31 | |
| 16 | Energie Cottbus (R) | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 30 | 57 | −27 | 30 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Karlsruher SC (R) | 34 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 30 | 54 | −24 | 29 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
| 18 | Arminia Bielefeld (R) | 34 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 29 | 56 | −27 | 28 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Werder Bremen qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal.
Results
Promotion/relegation play-offs
Energie Cottbus, as the 16th-placed team, faced third-placed 2. Bundesliga team 1. FC Nürnberg for a two-legged playoff. Nürnberg won both matches on an aggregated score of 5–0 and thus secured promotion to the 2009–10 Bundesliga, while Cottbus were relegated to the 2009–10 2. Bundesliga.
After Energie were relegated, no teams from the former East Germany played in the Bundesliga until RB Leipzig earned promotion to the Bundesliga for 2016–17.
| Energie Cottbus | 0–3 | 1. FC Nürnberg |
|---|---|---|
| Report (in German) |
Boakye Eigler |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 2–0 | Energie Cottbus |
|---|---|---|
| Eigler Mintál |
Report[link removed] (in German) |
Statistics
Top goalscorersSource: kicker.de (in German)
|
Awards
Player of the Month
| Month | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| August[19] | Arminia Bielefeld | |
| September[20] | Werder Bremen | |
| October[21] | 1899 Hoffenheim | |
| November[22] | Bayern Munich | |
| December[23] | VfB Stuttgart | |
| February[24] | VfB Stuttgart | |
| March[25] | VfL Wolfsburg | |
| April[26] | VfB Stuttgart | |
| May[27] | VfB Stuttgart |
Attendances
Source:[28]
| No. | Team | Matches | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 17 | 1,272,460 | 74,851 |
| 2 | Bayern München | 17 | 1,173,000 | 69,000 |
| 3 | Schalke 04 | 17 | 1,043,580 | 61,387 |
| 4 | Hamburger SV | 17 | 931,165 | 54,774 |
| 5 | Hertha BSC | 17 | 886,668 | 52,157 |
| 6 | VfB Stuttgart | 17 | 883,646 | 51,979 |
| 7 | 1. FC Köln | 17 | 838,367 | 49,316 |
| 8 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 17 | 805,397 | 47,376 |
| 9 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 17 | 800,100 | 47,065 |
| 10 | Hannover 96 | 17 | 711,616 | 41,860 |
| 11 | Werder Bremen | 17 | 686,381 | 40,375 |
| 12 | 1899 Hoffenheim | 17 | 477,300 | 28,076 |
| 13 | Karlsruher SC | 17 | 476,312 | 28,018 |
| 14 | VfL Wolfsburg | 17 | 465,929 | 27,408 |
| 15 | Bayer Leverkusen | 17 | 442,750 | 26,044 |
| 16 | VfL Bochum | 17 | 433,762 | 25,515 |
| 17 | Arminia Bielefeld | 17 | 398,900 | 23,465 |
| 18 | Energie Cottbus | 17 | 284,245 | 16,720 |