Bayern Munchen enjoyed another season of dominance in their Bundesliga campaign, lifting the league title for a third time in a row, but it was not enough to prevent questions being raised over the direction the team is headed under coach Josep Guardiola. Bayern were rarely under pressure in the title race and they looked to have been all but confirmed champions for a third successive season. Bayern finished the season 10 points clear of second placed Wolfsburg and the margin would have been higher were it not for an alarming dip in their form over the final weeks of the season. Bayern enjoyed an excellent first half of the campaign and headed into the winter break unbeaten and having dropped points in just three of the 17 games played. They suffered a shock defeat to Wolfsburg when the league campaign resumed in January and followed it up with another below par performance against Schalke. Bayern though quashed any suggestions of a dip in form with one of their best performances of the season as they returned to form with an 8-0 demolition of Hamburger SV. Big victories over Werder Bremen, Paderborn and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League followed and Bayern looked to have hit top form just when they needed in order to mount challenge for the treble. Arjen Robben was key to Bayern's attacking prowess, with the Dutch midfielder scoring 17 goals and creating seven more in 21 games. Injuries though started piling up for Bayern as the season wore on, with Robben and Franck Ribery both missing a large chunk of play time after the winter break while Thiago Alcantara and Philip Lahm also spent lengthy spells on the sidelines. The season's turning point though came in the Champions League when Bayern suffered a shock defeat to FC Porto in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final and, though they did manage to book a place in the semifinals with a 6-1 win in the return leg, questions were being asked whether Bayern had regressed under Guardiola. Bayern responded by wrapping up the title challenge with a hard fought victory over Hertha Berlin but their season ended soon after as they were first dumped out of the DFB Cup by Borussia Dortmund before they were completely outclassed by an excellent Barcelona side in the Champions League semifinals. Another shock defeat to SC Freiburg followed and though Bayern ended the season with a comfortable victory over Mainz, Guardiola was coming under serious pressure from both fans and critics over what was being seen as another poor season for the German giants. While there were speculation that he will be leaving the club in the summer to take over at Manchester City, Guardiola has confirmed that he will be seeing out his contract with the club and will be hoping that a couple of additions to the squad in order to improve the depth of the team will go a long way in ensuring a far more successful season next time around.
