Despite not winning any trophies for the first time in three seasons Borussia Dortmund can still look back on their season having accomplished a great deal. Jurgen Klopp’s men went into the season off the back of their first double winning seasons in which they won the league and cup but at Christmas Bayern already had a huge advantage over them as they dropped early points with too many draws and a poor home showing against bitter rivals Schalke who won in Dortmund. However, alongside the sometimes disappointing league form came a run in the DFB Pokal but more importantly an excellent showing in the Champions League as they managed to top their group, seeing off Real Madrid, Ajax and Manchester City at home, they also remained unbeaten in the competition until the semi final. After the winter break the form remained good if not spectacular as they continued to fade away from a dominant Bayern side but managed to secure a top three finish which would guarantee Champions League football for next season. A quarter final exit in the DFB Cup at the hands of Bayern also did not dampen the mood in Dortmund with their side pushing on in Europe, easily beating Shakhtar Donetsk over two legs to set up a quarter final with Malaga. In this clash with all seemingly lost Klopp’s side managed two goals in jury time to send them through to the semi finals where they only just saw off Real Madrid despite a commanding 4 – 1 home win. By the time the Final came around they had secured second place in the league and now faced off against Bayern Munich for the biggest prize in club football but a late goal from Arjen Robben ended their dream of lifting the trophy for a second time. Jurgen Klopp and sport director Michael Zorc will have a lot of planning to do over the summer with Mario Gotze confirmed as leaving to Bayern with Robert Lewandowski also likely to be on the way out, they will have a tough job emulating their season next term.
