# 2018–19 Bundesliga

The 2018–19 Bundesliga was the 56th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 24 August 2018 and concluded on 18 May 2019. It also marked the first season without Hamburger SV, previously the only team to have played in the top tier of German football in every season since the end of World War I.
Following a trial phase in the previous season, the video assistant referee system was officially approved for use in the Bundesliga after being added to the Laws of the Game by IFAB.
Bayern Munich were the defending champions, and won their 28th Bundesliga title (and 29th German title) and seventh consecutive Bundesliga on the final matchday.

## Teams

A total of 18 teams participated in the 2018–19 edition of the Bundesliga.

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2017–18 2. Bundesliga | Relegated from 2017–18 Bundesliga |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf 1. FC Nürnberg | 1. FC Köln Hamburger SV |

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Augsburg | Augsburg | WWK Arena | 30,660 |
| Hertha BSC | Berlin | Olympiastadion | 74,649 |
| Werder Bremen | Bremen | Weser-Stadion | 42,100 |
| Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund | Signal Iduna Park | 81,365 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | Merkur Spiel-Arena | 54,600 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Commerzbank-Arena | 51,500 |
| SC Freiburg | Freiburg im Breisgau | Schwarzwald-Stadion | 24,000 |
| Hannover 96 | Hanover | HDI-Arena | 49,000 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | Sinsheim | PreZero Arena | 30,150 |
| RB Leipzig | Leipzig | Red Bull Arena | 42,558 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Leverkusen | BayArena | 30,210 |
| Mainz 05 | Mainz | Opel Arena | 34,000 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mönchengladbach | Borussia-Park | 54,022 |
| Bayern Munich | Munich | Allianz Arena | 75,024 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Nuremberg | Max-Morlock-Stadion | 49,923 |
| Schalke 04 | Gelsenkirchen | Veltins-Arena | 62,271 |
| VfB Stuttgart | Stuttgart | Mercedes-Benz Arena | 60,449 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | Wolfsburg | Volkswagen Arena | 30,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Shirt sponsor |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Front | Sleeve |
| FC Augsburg | Martin Schmidt | Daniel Baier | Nike | WWK | Siegmund |
| Hertha BSC | Pál Dárdai | Vedad Ibišević | Nike | TEDi | Hyundai Motor Company |
| Werder Bremen | Florian Kohfeldt | Max Kruse | Umbro | Wiesenhof | H-Hotels |
| Borussia Dortmund | Lucien Favre | Marco Reus | Puma | Evonik | Opel |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Friedhelm Funkel | Oliver Fink | Uhlsport | Henkel | Toyo Tires |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Adi Hütter | David Abraham | Nike | Indeed.com | Deutsche Börse Group |
| SC Freiburg | Christian Streich | Mike Frantz | Hummel | Schwarzwaldmilch | Badenova |
| Hannover 96 | Thomas Doll | Marvin Bakalorz | Jako | Heinz von Heiden | HDI |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | Julian Nagelsmann | Kevin Vogt | Lotto | SAP | Prowin |
| RB Leipzig | Ralf Rangnick | Willi Orban | Nike | Red Bull | CG Immobilien |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Peter Bosz | Lars Bender | Jako | Barmenia Versicherungen | Kieser Training |
| Mainz 05 | Sandro Schwarz | Stefan Bell | Lotto | Kömmerling | None |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Dieter Hecking | Lars Stindl | Puma | Postbank | H-Hotels |
| Bayern Munich | Niko Kovač | Manuel Neuer | Adidas | Deutsche Telekom | Qatar Airways |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Boris Schommers | Hanno Behrens | Umbro | Nürnberger Versicherung | Godelmann Betonstein |
| Schalke 04 | Huub Stevens | Ralf Fährmann | Umbro | Gazprom | DHL Express |
| VfB Stuttgart | Nico Willig | Christian Gentner | Puma | Mercedes-Benz Bank | GAZİ |
| VfL Wolfsburg | Bruno Labbadia | Josuha Guilavogui | Nike | Volkswagen | UPS |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Incoming date | Ref. |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Announced on | Departed on | Position in table | Incoming | Announced on | Arrived on | Ref. |
| Bayern Munich | Jupp Heynckes | End of contract | 13 April 2018 | 30 June 2018 | Pre-season | Niko Kovač | 13 April 2018 | 1 July 2018 | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Niko Kovač | Signed for Bayern Munich | 13 April 2018 | 30 June 2018 | Pre-season | Adi Hütter | 16 May 2018 | 1 July 2018 | |
| Borussia Dortmund | Peter Stöger | End of contract | 12 May 2018 | 30 June 2018 | Pre-season | Lucien Favre | 22 May 2018 | 1 July 2018 | |
| RB Leipzig | Ralph Hasenhüttl | Resigned | 16 May 2018 | 30 June 2018 | Pre-season | Ralf Rangnick | 9 July 2018 | 9 July 2018 | |
| VfB Stuttgart | Tayfun Korkut | Sacked | 7 October 2018 | 7 October 2018 | 18th | Markus Weinzierl | 9 October 2018 | 9 October 2018 | |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Heiko Herrlich | Sacked | 23 December 2018 | 23 December 2018 | 9th | Peter Bosz | 23 December 2018 | 23 December 2018 | |
| Hannover 96 | André Breitenreiter | Sacked | 27 January 2019 | 27 January 2019 | 17th | Thomas Doll | 27 January 2019 | 27 January 2019 | |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Michael Köllner | Sacked | 12 February 2019 | 12 February 2019 | 18th | Boris Schommers (interim) | 12 February 2019 | 12 February 2019 | |
| Schalke 04 | Domenico Tedesco | Sacked | 14 March 2019 | 14 March 2019 | 14th | Huub Stevens (interim) | 14 March 2019 | 14 March 2019 | |
| FC Augsburg | Manuel Baum | Sacked | 9 April 2019 | 9 April 2019 | 15th | Martin Schmidt | 9 April 2019 | 9 April 2019 | |
| VfB Stuttgart | Markus Weinzierl | Sacked | 20 April 2019 | 20 April 2019 | 16th | Nico Willig (interim) | 20 April 2019 | 20 April 2019 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bayern Munich (C) | 34 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 88 | 32 | +56 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 81 | 44 | +37 | 76 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | RB Leipzig | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 63 | 29 | +34 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 69 | 52 | +17 | 58 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 55 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 55 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 8 | Werder Bremen | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 53 | |
| 9 | 1899 Hoffenheim | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 70 | 52 | +18 | 51 | |
| 10 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 49 | 65 | −16 | 44 | |
| 11 | Hertha BSC | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 49 | 57 | −8 | 43 | |
| 12 | Mainz 05 | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 43 | |
| 13 | SC Freiburg | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 46 | 61 | −15 | 36 | |
| 14 | Schalke 04 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 37 | 55 | −18 | 33 | |
| 15 | FC Augsburg | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 51 | 71 | −20 | 32 | |
| 16 | VfB Stuttgart (R) | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 32 | 70 | −38 | 28 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Hannover 96 (R) | 34 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 31 | 71 | −40 | 21 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
| 18 | 1. FC Nürnberg (R) | 34 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 26 | 68 | −42 | 19 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2018–19 DFB-Pokal, Bayern Munich, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the Europa League second qualifying round spot was passed to the seventh-placed team.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AUG | BSC | BRE | DOR | DÜS | FRA | FRE | HAN | HOF | LEI | LEV | MAI | MÖN | MUN | NÜR | SCH | STU | WOL |
| FC Augsburg | — | 3–4 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–3 |
| Hertha BSC | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Werder Bremen | 4–0 | 3–1 | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–6 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 4–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 7–0 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 7–1 | — | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| SC Freiburg | 5–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Hannover 96 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | — | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–4 |
| RB Leipzig | 0–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 2–4 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| Mainz 05 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–5 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | — | 1–5 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 |
| Bayern Munich | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 0–3 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 6–0 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Schalke 04 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 5–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | 3–0 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 8–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — |

## Relegation play-offs

All times are CEST (UTC+2).

### Second leg

2–2 on aggregate. Union Berlin won on away goals and were promoted to the Bundesliga, while VfB Stuttgart were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | 22 |
| 2 | Paco Alcácer | Borussia Dortmund | 18 |
| 3 | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | 17 |
| 3 | Luka Jović | Eintracht Frankfurt | 17 |
| 3 | Andrej Kramarić | 1899 Hoffenheim | 17 |
| 3 | Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund | 17 |
| 3 | Wout Weghorst | VfL Wolfsburg | 17 |
| 8 | Ishak Belfodil | 1899 Hoffenheim | 16 |
| 8 | Timo Werner | RB Leipzig | 16 |
| 10 | Sébastien Haller | Eintracht Frankfurt | 15 |
| 10 | Yussuf Poulsen | RB Leipzig | 15 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Alfreð Finnbogason | FC Augsburg | SC Freiburg | 4–1 | 30 September 2018 |
| Paco Alcácer | Borussia Dortmund | FC Augsburg | 4–3 | 6 October 2018 |
| Luka Jović$^5$ | Eintracht Frankfurt | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 7–1 | 19 October 2018 |
| Jonas Hofmann | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mainz 05 | 4–0 | 21 October 2018 |
| Alassane Pléa | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Werder Bremen | 3–1 | 10 November 2018 |
| Dodi Lukebakio | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Bayern Munich | 3–3 | 24 November 2018 |
| Alfreð Finnbogason | FC Augsburg | Mainz 05 | 3–0 | 3 February 2019 |
| Wout Weghorst | VfL Wolfsburg | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 5–2 | 16 March 2019 |
| James Rodríguez | Bayern Munich | Mainz 05 | 6–0 | 17 March 2019 |
| Yussuf Poulsen | RB Leipzig | Hertha BSC | 5–0 | 30 March 2019 |
| Jean-Philippe Mateta | Mainz 05 | SC Freiburg | 5–0 | 5 April 2019 |
| Ishak Belfodil | 1899 Hoffenheim | FC Augsburg | 4–0 | 7 April 2019 |
| Lucas Alario | Bayer Leverkusen | Hertha BSC | 5–1 | 18 May 2019 |
| Wout Weghorst | VfL Wolfsburg | FC Augsburg | 8–1 | 18 May 2019 |
$^5$ Player scored five goals

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Péter Gulácsi | RB Leipzig | 16 |
| 2 | Yann Sommer | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 13 |
| 3 | Roman Bürki | Borussia Dortmund | 10 |
| 3 | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | 10 |
| 5 | Lukáš Hrádecký | Bayer Leverkusen | 9 |
| 6 | Koen Casteels | VfL Wolfsburg | 8 |
| 6 | Rune Jarstein | Hertha BSC | 8 |
| 6 | Kevin Trapp | Eintracht Frankfurt | 8 |
| 9 | Ron-Robert Zieler | VfB Stuttgart | 6 |
| 10 | Oliver Baumann | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 5 |
| 10 | Michael Esser | Hannover 96 | 5 |
| 10 | Florian Müller | Mainz 05 | 5 |
| 10 | Jiří Pavlenka | Werder Bremen | 5 |
| 10 | Michael Rensing | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 5 |
| 10 | Alexander Schwolow | SC Freiburg | 5 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Rookie of the Month | Rookie of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | Ref. |
| Month | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Ref. |
| August | — | — | — | — | Axel Witsel | Borussia Dortmund | |
| September | Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund | Achraf Hakimi | Borussia Dortmund | Jacob Bruun Larsen | Borussia Dortmund | |
| October | Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund | Reiss Nelson | 1899 Hoffenheim | Paco Alcácer | Borussia Dortmund | |
| November | Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund | Achraf Hakimi | Borussia Dortmund | Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund | |
| December | Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund | Dodi Lukebakio | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Jean Zimmer | Fortuna Düsseldorf | |
| January | Leon Goretzka | Bayern Munich | Nicolás González | VfB Stuttgart | Maximilian Eggestein | Werder Bremen | |
| February | Julian Brandt | Bayer Leverkusen | Evan Ndicka | Eintracht Frankfurt | Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund | |
| March | Max Kruse | Werder Bremen | Ozan Kabak | VfB Stuttgart | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | |
| April | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | Matheus Pereira | 1. FC Nürnberg | Matheus Cunha | RB Leipzig | |
| May | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | — | — | Franck Ribéry | Bayern Munich | |

### Goal of the year (2018)

Jonas Hector won the award for his goal for 1. FC Köln against VfL Wolfsburg.

## Attendances

| Rank | Team | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 17 | 80,841 |
| 2 | Bayern München | 17 | 75,000 |
| 3 | Schalke 04 | 17 | 60,941 |
| 4 | VfB Stuttgart | 17 | 54,551 |
| 5 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 17 | 49,765 |
| 6 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 17 | 49,668 |
| 7 | Hertha BSC | 17 | 49,259 |
| 8 | Fortuna 95 | 17 | 43,857 |
| 9 | Werder Bremen | 17 | 41,256 |
| 10 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 17 | 40,372 |
| 11 | RB Leipzig | 17 | 38,380 |
| 12 | Hannover 96 | 17 | 38,365 |
| 13 | FC Augsburg | 17 | 28,618 |
| 14 | TSG Hoffenheim | 17 | 28,456 |
| 15 | Bayer Leverkusen | 17 | 27,990 |
| 16 | Mainz 05 | 17 | 26,246 |
| 17 | VfL Wolfsburg | 17 | 24,481 |
| 18 | SC Freiburg | 17 | 23,894 |