How the world looked the last time Bayern Munich didn't win the Bundesliga title
Bayer Leverkusen are the 2023/24 Bundesliga champions, ending Bayern Munich's 11-year grip on the German top-flight title. But how did the world look before the record champions began their unprecedented run?
bundesliga.com turns the clock back to 2012...
German football
- The 2012/13 season is the Bundesliga's 50th.
- Appointed in March 2011 to replace Louis van Gaal, Jupp Heynckes remains Bayern coach despite failing to prevent Borussia Dortmund from securing back-to-back Bundesliga titles.
- Thomas Schaaf started what would be his 14th and final season as Werder Bremen coach.
- Christian Streich began his first full season as Freiburg coach and would be the only ever-present on the touchline from Dortmund's last title through to Leverkusen's triumph.
- A certain Robert Lewandowski reached double figures in the Bundesliga for the first time in 2011/12, his 22 goals helping BVB to the title – a huge leap from scoring eight the previous season.
- Manuel Neuer ended up empty handed in his debut season at Bayern following his summer 2011 switch from Schalke. To date it is the only campaign in which he has not won at least one piece of silverware with the Bavarian giants.
- Marco Reus enjoyed the most prolific season of his career in 2011/12, scoring 18 times in 32 games for Borussia Mönchengladbach to earn himself a summer move to boyhood club Dortmund.
- Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finished the 2011/12 season as Bundesliga top scorer with 29 goals, the closest anyone had got to breaking the 30-goal barrier since Cologne’s Dieter Müller hit 34 in 1976/77.
Watch: Robert Lewandowski's top Bundesliga moments & skills
European football
- Chelsea become the first defending champions to exit the UEFA Champions League at the group stage, while Germany's three teams in the competition, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, all top their groups.
- Manchester City's Sergio Agüero scores deep into added time as Manchester City win their first English Premier League title and deny neighbours Manchester United.
- Lionel Messi surpasses Gerd Müller's achievement of scoring 85 goals in 1972 as the Barcelona superstar racks up 91 in 2012.
Sport
- John and Jim Harbaugh become the first brothers to coach opposing teams in the Super Bowl: John's Baltimore Ravens claimed their second NFL crown with a 34-31 win in Super Bowl XLVII in early 2013.
- Sebastian Vettel won the third of his four successive Formula One driver's titles in 2012, the last year seven-time former champion and fellow German driver Michael Schumacher raced.
- Bradley Wiggins wins the 2012 Tour de France in a year when Lance Armstrong is stripped of all his seven yellow jerseys.
Watch: Gerd Müller - the Bundesliga's all-time record goalscorer
Technology
- Apple release the fifth version of its signature iPhone.
- Instagram takes off after it is bought by Facebook for $1 billion, zooming to 100 million users by September.
- Snapchat becomes 'a thing' with 20 million photos being shared a day across the platform by November 2012.
Politics
- Xi Jingping becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012, the same month Barack Obama is re-elected President of the United States.
- British Prime Minister David Cameron announces he will give the people of the United Kingdom a referendum on whether to withdraw from the European Union.
- Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation.
Film
- The first Avengers film premieres, starting a box-office dynasty for Disney.
- Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, comes to screens around the world.
- Frozen and Iron Man 3 each gross over $1.2 billion, putting them among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time.
Music
- K-Pop sensations BTS release their debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool.
- Swedish House Mafia announce they are disbanding.
- Taylor Swift's album 'Red' sells 1.21 million copies in its first week after release, the biggest sales week of the year.
Random
- 'Fracking' and 'blue tick' are accepted into the Oxford English dictionary.
- The cronut - a croissant-doughnut combo pastry - debuts in a New York bakery before being copied the world over.
- Candy Crush is the most popular game on Facebook with 46 million monthly users on average.
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