Bayern Munich became the first time to win five successive Bundesliga titles as they comfortably defended their crown ahead of RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Hoffenheim.
Bayern lifted the title with three games to spare as the Champions League contenders failed to mount a proper challenge for the trophy, with Leipzig finishing 15 points adrift in second place.
However, the season was a massive success for the Red Bull-funded club, who had just been promoted from the 2 Bundesliga a year earlier and qualified for Europe at the first time of asking.
Thomas Tuchel guided Dortmund to yet another season in the Champions League spots and lifted the DFB Pokal, but BVB’s season was majorly affected by an incident involving a bus bomb ahead of their UCL quarter-final defeat to Monaco, which shook the club’s players and fans.
Only three matchdays saw a team other than Bayern at the top of the table, while at the other end Darmstadt were consistently on the bottom. They were joined in the relegation zone by Ingolstadt, while Wolfsburg needed to beat Eintracht Braunschweig to stay in the top flight.
CHANGES
Bayern Munich had planned for the post-Pep Guardiola era since the previous December, confirming that Carlo Ancelotti would become head coach in the summer once the Spaniard had left.
He was one of six new head coaches heading into the 2016-17 campaign, with Leipzig’s Ralf Rangnick moving upstairs to become sporting director and Ralph Hasenhuttl joining from Ingolstadt.
Schalke and Augsburg also hired new coaches, while Werder Bremen and Hamburg had sacked their bosses by the end of September.
Ancelotti had just two new arrivals during the summer with Mats Hummels moving for €38 million from Dortmund and Portugal wonderkid Renato Sanches coming from Benfica for €35m. After three seasons in Munich, Gotze went the opposite direction returning to BVB.
Tuchel made a lot of changes at Dortmund, also signing Andre Schurrle, Sebastian Rode, Raphael Guerreiro and Rennes teenager Ousmane Dembele, who would prove to be one of the signings of the season.
The Premier League continued to snap up Bundesliga talent, with Manchester United signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and rivals City adding Ilkay Gundogan.
RB Leipzig’s commitment to signing young talent saw them add Timo Werner, Naby Keita, and Dayot Upamecano ahead of their first season in the Bundesliga, while Schalke signed Breel Embolo from Basel for €22.5m only for him to suffer a season-ending injury after just seven league games.
SUMMARY
Bayern started and finished the season in style, bookending another successful domestic campaign with 6-0 wins over Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg.
Despite the big opening weekend win, Ancelotti’s team took a few games to gel, needing late winners against Schalke and Hamburg. They had a few stumbles in the Hinrunde, with a notable 1-0 defeat to Dortmund standing out, but took control of the league thereafter and led the table from the 14th week on.
Leipzig’s additions of Keita and Werner were instrumental in their strong season, with the Guinea international midfielder proving to be a sensational signing, earning plaudits from everywhere and attention from Europe’s biggest clubs. Werner’s pace and scoring ability saw him receive international recognition with Germany and inclusion in their squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup, where he won the Golden Boot.
Hasenhuttl’s side were the only team other than Bayern to top the table at any stage of the season, but eventually finished 15 points behind the champions as they battled for second with Dortmund and Hoffenheim.
Dortmund’s season proved inconsistent and despite a top three finish and a cup win, Tuchel left the club at the end of the campaign. He decided to take a sabbatical despite interest from teams abroad who wanted to make him their manager.
Koln and Hertha Berlin finished in Europa League spots, but were never anywhere close to the top four, with a 13 point gap separating fourth and fifth. Midtable was congested as teams took points from one another, but down at the bottom, Darmstadt seemed incapable of taking points from anyone.
They won just seven games, while Ingolstadt fared slightly better with eight wins and eight draws during the season. Mainz edged out Wolfsburg on the last day to secure their top-flight status, but VfL retained their position in the Bundesliga thanks to a 2-0 aggregate victory over Eintracht Braunschweig in the playoffs through goals from Mario Gomez and Vieirinha.
PLAYER OF THE SEASON
MANAGER OF THE SEASON
RALPH HASENHUTTL
Hasenhuttl’s first season as RB Leipzig boss was an extremely memorable one as he guided the newly promoted side to a runners-up spot in the Bundesliga and into the Champions League with a youthful, exciting squad.
TOP GOALSCORER
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG- 31 GOALS
Borussia Dortmund striker Aubameyang and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski were locked in a battle for the top scorer trophy until the final day of the season, when the Gabon forward scored an 89th minute penalty to take his daily tally to two and his season total to 31 goals, one ahead of his rival.
TEAM OF THE SEASON
NEUER; PISZCZEK, HUMMELS, SULE, KOLASINAC; DEMBELE, ALCANTARA, KEITA, FORSBERG; LEWANDOWSKI, AUBAMEYANG
MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFER
Mats Hummels
€38m
KEY MOMENT OF THE SEASON
After falling off top spot following a defeat to Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich returned to winning ways in their next game, with former Dortmund defender Mats Hummels showing his value at both ends of the pitch by scoring the winner against Bayer Leverkusen, setting up a seven-game winning streak for Bayern.
Dortmund 
