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Highs and lows from Borussia Dortmund’s historic 2011/12 season

By Adam Bakr

Dortmund's players celebrate with the trophies of the German Cup (C) and the Bundesliga first division (R) after their team won the German cup " DFB Pokal " final football match Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 12, 2012. Dortmund defeated Munich 5-2. AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENRESTRICTIONS / EMBARGO - DFB LIMITS THE USE OF IMAGES ON THE INTERNET TO 15 PICTURES (NO VIDEO-LIKE SEQUENCES) DURING THE MATCH AND PROHIBITS MOBILE (MMS) USE DURING AND FOR FURTHER TWO HOURS AFTER THE MATCH. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT DFB. (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/GettyImages)
Dortmund's players celebrate with the trophies of the German Cup (C) and the Bundesliga first division (R) after their team won the German cup " DFB Pokal " final football match Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 12, 2012. Dortmund defeated Munich 5-2. AFP PHOTO / ODD ANDERSENRESTRICTIONS / EMBARGO - DFB LIMITS THE USE OF IMAGES ON THE INTERNET TO 15 PICTURES (NO VIDEO-LIKE SEQUENCES) DURING THE MATCH AND PROHIBITS MOBILE (MMS) USE DURING AND FOR FURTHER TWO HOURS AFTER THE MATCH. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT DFB. (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/GettyImages) /
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With the Bundesliga postponed until April at the earliest, it’s a chance to look back at the different Borussia Dortmund seasons over the course of the decade.

After winning the Bundesliga title in the previous season, the 2011-12 side was one with high expectations for Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund brought back the same core, with some small changes. After Nuri Sahin left for Real Madrid, Ilkay Gundogan joined the side from Nurnberg. Shinji Kagawa was also back as a consistent starter after missing the back half of the previous season with a broken foot.

Here we look at the highs and lows from the 2011/12 season.

Dortmund’s Japanese forward Shinji Kagawa lifts the trophy after the German first football division Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 5, 2012. AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ
Dortmund’s Japanese forward Shinji Kagawa lifts the trophy after the German first football division Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg in Dortmund, western Germany, on May 5, 2012. AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ /

High: Winning the league again

For the second year in a row, Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga title. The title run was even more impressive this time around, as they finished with 81 points, the record number points total at the time.

It was a rough start to the season for Dortmund, as they would lose three of their first six games. After claiming just seven points after six match days, Dortmund would hit a complete turnaround, winning eight of the next 11 to close out the Hinrunde, before winning 15 of their 17 games in the Rückrunde. The five draws along the way was as bad as it got for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who ended the season on a 28 match unbeaten run.

As was the case the year before, Borussia Dortmund won the title with two games to go. This time around the Black and Yellows faced Borussia Monchengladbach at the Westfalenstadion with a chance to wrap up the title. Similarly to the previous title, Dortmund went on to win the game 2-0, as Shinji Kagawa sealed the win and the title with Dortmund’s second of the game after Ivan Perisic had given them the lead with a first half header.

The Gladbach win capped off a stretch of consecutive wins against the second, third and fourth placed teams in the Bundesliga table en route to securing the title. Wins in the final two games would cap off the season with a six match win streak.

Dortmund brought back the same defensive core form the season before, and nearly put up the same record. This time around they’d concede 25 goals, good for the third best defence in the league.

The offense would take a step up this season however, leading the Bundesliga in goals with 80. Second year players Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa led the way in scoring, with 22 and 13 goals respectively. Kagawa would also lead the team in assists with 11. Dortmund’s Polish trio all found themselves towards the top of the assist charts, as Jakub Błaszczykowski had eight assists while Lewandowski and Łukasz Piszczek would each add seven of their own.

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