# 2008–09 Bundesliga

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. VfL Wolfsburg secured their first national title in the last match after a 5–1 win at home against Werder Bremen.

## 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 will not be 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-Arena | 30,000 |
| Karlsruher SC | Karlsruhe | Wildparkstadion | 32,306 |
| 1. FC Köln | Cologne | RheinEnergieStadion | 50,374 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Leverkusen | BayArena | 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

| Team | Head Coach | Team Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Hertha BSC | Lucien Favre | Arne Friedrich | Nike | Deutsche Bahn |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Jörg Berger | Rüdiger Kauf | Saller | Krombacher |
| VfL Bochum | Marcel Koller | Marcel Maltritz | Do You Football | KiK |
| Werder Bremen | Thomas Schaaf | Frank Baumann | Kappa | Citibank |
| Energie Cottbus | Bojan Prašnikar | Timo Rost | Saller | enviaM |
| Borussia Dortmund | Jürgen Klopp | Sebastian Kehl | Nike | Evonik |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Friedhelm Funkel | Ioannis Amanatidis | Jako | Fraport |
| Hamburger SV | Martin Jol | David Jarolím | adidas | Emirates |
| Hannover 96 | Dieter Hecking | Robert Enke | Under Armour | TUI |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | Ralf Rangnick | Selim Teber | Puma | TV Digital |
| Karlsruher SC | Edmund Becker | Maik Franz | Jako | EnBW |
| 1. FC Köln | Christoph Daum | Milivoje Novaković | Reebok | REWE |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Bruno Labbadia | Simon Rolfes | adidas | TelDaFax |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Hans Meyer | Filip Daems | Lotto | Kyocera |
| Bayern Munich | Jupp Heynckes | Mark van Bommel | adidas | T-Home |
| Schalke 04 | Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck | Mladen Krstajić | adidas | Gazprom |
| VfB Stuttgart | Markus Babbel | Thomas Hitzlsperger | Puma | EnBW |
| VfL Wolfsburg | Felix Magath | Josué | Nike | Ein Herz Für Kinder*/Polo |

#### 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 | Michael Skibbe | Sacked | 30 June 2008 | Bruno Labbadia | 1 July 2008 | Pre-season |
| Bayern Munich | Ottmar Hitzfeld | End of contract | 30 June 2008 | Jürgen Klinsmann | 1 July 2008 | Pre-season |
| Borussia Dortmund | Thomas Doll | Resigned | 30 June 2008 | Jürgen Klopp | 1 July 2008 | Pre-season |
| Hamburger SV | Huub Stevens | End of contract | 30 June 2008 | Martin Jol | 1 July 2008 | Pre-season |
| Schalke 04 | Mike Büskens & Youri Mulder | Stepped down to assistant position | 30 June 2008 | Fred Rutten | 1 July 2008 | Pre-season |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Jos Luhukay | Sacked | 5 October 2008 | Hans Meyer | 18 October 2008 | 18th |
| VfB Stuttgart | Armin Veh | Sacked | 23 November 2008 | Markus Babbel | 23 November 2008 | 11th |
| Schalke 04 | Fred Rutten | Sacked | 26 March 2009 | Mike Büskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck | 1 April 2009 | 8th |
| Bayern Munich | Jürgen Klinsmann | Sacked | 27 April 2009 | Jupp Heynckes | 27 April 2009 | 3rd |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Michael Frontzeck | Sacked | 17 May 2009 | Jörg Berger | 19 May 2009 | 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 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 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 | 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 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
* ↑ Werder Bremen qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BSC | DSC | BOC | SVW | FCE | BVB | SGE | HSV | H96 | TSG | KSC | KOE | B04 | BMG | FCB | S04 | VFB | WOB |
| Hertha BSC | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| VfL Bochum | 2–3 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Werder Bremen | 5–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | — | 3–0 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 5–4 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Energie Cottbus | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 1–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 0–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 |
| Hamburger SV | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| Hannover 96 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–5 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–5 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| Karlsruher SC | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| 1. FC Köln | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 5–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| Bayern Munich | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 |
| Schalke 04 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 4–1 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 4–1 | — |

## 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.

## Statistics

Top goalscorers
Source: kicker.de (in German)
Rank
Player
Club
Goals
1 GrafiteVfL Wolfsburg28
2 Edin DžekoVfL Wolfsburg26
3 Mario GómezVfB Stuttgart24
4 Patrick HelmesBayer Leverkusen21
5 Vedad Ibišević1899 Hoffenheim18
6 Claudio PizarroWerder Bremen17
7 Milivoje Novaković1. FC Köln16
8 Demba Ba1899 Hoffenheim14
Luca ToniBayern Munich14
10 Kevin KurányiSchalke 0413
Artur WichniarekArminia Bielefeld13 :

## Awards
### Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Team |
| August | Artur Wichniarek | Arminia Bielefeld |
| September | Mesut Özil | Werder Bremen |
| October | Vedad Ibišević | 1899 Hoffenheim |
| November | Franck Ribéry | Bayern Munich |
| December | Sami Khedira | VfB Stuttgart |
| February | Mario Gómez | VfB Stuttgart |
| March | Grafite | VfL Wolfsburg |
| April | Mario Gómez | VfB Stuttgart |
| May | Mario Gómez | VfB Stuttgart |