Bundesliga season review: 5 things we learnt from 2017/18 season
The 2017/18 season in Bundesliga drew to a close last evening, and in a fittingly spectacular fashion - a total of 36 goals were scored; Bayern were handed their heaviest home defeat since 2008; Hoffenheim qualified for their maiden Champions League group campaign; and Hamburg were relegated for the first time in 55 years, as there was drama aplenty.
However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, for we've witnessed a lot over the course of the whole campaign. An average of 2.79 goals was scored per game - the highest across the top five leagues, featuring 10 hat-tricks, second only to Italy's Serie A.
Robert Lewandowski picked up his third Golden Boot with 29 goals, 14 more than any other player on the league. Also, the season witnessed 9 managerial changes, with Hamburg alone making three changes in a single season.
If anything, this was a Bundesliga season to savour, but now that it has driven into the sunset, it's time to look back and reflect on a few takeaways from it.
Here are 5 lessons learned from another nerve-jangling season in Germany's top-flight.
#5 More mismanagement sees Wolfsburg again in play-offs drama
Last year, Wolfsburg were condemned to relegation play-offs after mustering only a 16th place finish - a massive decline from the runners-up position clinched just two years earlier. Now, another year later, the Wolves find themselves in a familiar territory, as another dismal campaign ends in the dreaded relegation play-offs test.
One of the instrumental reasons for the club's dramatic fall in the recent times was the sale of high-profile players such as Ivan Perisic, Nicklas Bendtner, Naldo, Julian Draxler, Bas Dost, Max Kruse, Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne.
Wolfsburg had their coffers filled to the brim with cash from these sales but recklessly splashed them on poor quality players. The frequent managerial changes - six of them in the last two years alone - further compounded their misery.
The incompetence at management level seeped through on the field, as the Wolves turned in one deplorable performance after another. And for the second year running, the team narrowly escaped relegation but will now play Holstein Kiel in a two-legged play-off next week in a bid to retain Bundesliga credentials.