Bayern's new signing Michael Olise is particularly striking.

This year's Bundesliga season concluded with the 34th matchday. FC Bayern are back on top and confidently secured the title ahead of Bayer Leverkusen. VfL Bochum and Holstein Kiel must face the bitter reality of relegation to the second division, while 1. FC Heidenheim face a play-off for another season in the top flight. The battle for European qualification, in particular, provided plenty of excitement right up until the end. This led to a direct duel for Champions League qualification between SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt on the final matchday, which the team from Hesse ultimately won. Under coach Niko Kovač, Borussia Dortmund managed a turnaround and, despite an overall disappointing season, ultimately reached the Champions League.

Cologne. After the end of this thrilling season, FanQ surveyed over 4,000 football fans on how they rate the season. Which teams surprised, which disappointed? Who was the best player in their position? And which coach did the best job? It is noticeable that there have been some changes compared to the winter break, but fans were also correct with many of their predictions.

Fans still saw 1. FSV Mainz 05 as the surprise team of the season. Over a third (34.9 %) voted for the 05ers, who qualified for the Conference League with sixth place. The respondents named SC Freiburg as the second big surprise, managing to qualify for the Europa League despite the departure of Christian Streich. 27.6 percent gave the SCF their vote. With 18.6 percent of the votes, Eintracht Frankfurt took third place in the positive surprises ranking.

A narrow majority of respondents agreed on the disappointment of the past season: 52.0 per cent voted in favour of RB Leipzig in this category. After the first half of the season, it looked as though the Red Bulls might qualify for the top flight again, but in the end the Saxons finished seventh and missed out on international business, meaning they will not be represented on the European stage next season for the first time since their promotion to the Bundesliga. Despite the ultimately conciliatory finish with Champions League qualification, 19.1 per cent see Borussia Dortmund's performance as the biggest disappointment. TSG Hoffenheim (8.2 %) follows in third place, but many fans are also dissatisfied with VfB Stuttgart's Bundesliga season (7.7 %), as expectations were high after the strong previous season. Nevertheless, the DFB Cup victory and the associated participation in the Europa League should console fans over ninth place in the league.

When it came to individual awards, one player in particular swept the board: Michael Olise of FC Bayern was not only crowned the best newcomer (66.6 %) but also the best midfielder (43.2 %) of the past season. Furthermore, the Frenchman even won the vote for best player of the season (47.6 %). At the winter break, Jamal Musiala led the ranking of the best professional, ahead of Omar Marmoush. While the departure of the SGE striker and Musiala's injury may have played a role, the youngster naturally also impressed on the pitch. In total, he was directly involved in 31 of Munich's 99 goals (12 goals, 19 assists). Finishing in second place was last season's best player, Florian Wirtz (14.5 %), with third place going to VfB's shooting star Nick Woltemade (9.9 %).

Nobody has really stood out this season as the undisputed number one in goal across the league, which also suggests that the top German division is well-covered between the posts. This picture is also reflected in our survey. Ultimately, Robin Zentner of 1. FSV Mainz 05 (23.3 %) narrowly won our vote ahead of Augsburg's Finn Dahmen (18.5 %) and Peter Gulácsi of RB Leipzig (12.0 %). However, youngsters like Noah Atobolu (FC Augsburg) and winter signing Jonas Urbig (FC Bayern Munich) also impressed.

Among the defenders, Jonathan Tah secured the top spot with 41.2 percent of the votes. He will not extend his contract at Leverkusen and will soon take on a new challenge. FCB centre-back Dayot Upamecano (16.2 %), who was sidelined due to injury in the crucial phase of the season, and Frankfurt's international player Robin Kochs (11.2 %) complete the podium with a clear gap.

Besides the already mentioned Michael Olise (43.2 %), poll participants voted Leverkusen's top talent Florian Wirtz as the second-best midfielder of the season with 24.4 percent of the votes. Similar to his teammate Jonathan Tah, according to various media reports, he is planning to leave his home in Rhineland. However, it appears he is not drawn to the Bavarian state capital, but rather to the Premier League champions from Liverpool. Wirtz's brilliant DFB partner Jamal Musiala ranks third in this category (11.9 %).

Among the strikers, top scorer Harry Kane was once again the benchmark. Over half (54.2 %) see the Englishman as the best attacker in the league. Serhou Guirassy (16.5 %), who had a strong first season for BVB, takes second place. Nick Woltemade (12.7 %) from VfB Stuttgart, one of the discoveries of this season, takes third place in the striker rankings.

The "Newcomer of the Season" category included all professionals who were a maximum of 21 years old on the first matchday and had not yet accumulated more than 900 Bundesliga minutes. Here, just under half of the fans (48.8 %) chose Bayern keeper Jonas Urbig, who was able to adequately deputise for first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer several times during his injury, for first place. Joint second place went to Mainz's Paul Nebel and Tom Bischof of TSG Hoffenheim, each with 11.7 %of the user votes. At Christmas, 45.8 percent of fans still had Paul Wanner in pole position, but the young midfielder could not really maintain his form, so his share of votes plummeted to 5.5 percent after the second half of the season.

Trainer of the Season was Bayern's new head coach Vincent Kompnay (40.0 %). The Belgian impressed with attractive football despite initial doubts about him and led the Munich club confidently to the championship. In second place, respondents voted for Niko Kovač, who took over as head coach of BVB during the season (20.2 %). Although the Croatian only took over after the winter break, he has earned his position in this ranking. The 53-year-old led the lagging Dortmund team back to a Champions League spot with an impressive run. Julian Schuster of SC Freiburg landed in third place (12.4 %), just ahead of Frankfurt's Dino Toppmöller (11.6 %) and Bo Henriksen of 1. FSV Mainz 05 (10.6 %). This means Bayer's departing coach and previous year's winner Xabi Alonso is the only coach of a club participating in European competitions to miss out on the top 5, which can primarily be explained by the curse of good deeds.

When asked about the best business in the transfer market, FC Bayern is just ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt (37.6 %) with 38.9 percent of the votes. According to 37.7 percent of fans, these two teams were also involved in the best game of the season when they drew 3-3 on the sixth matchday. Behind them, with 24.6 percent, is the duel between VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen, where the Werkself came back from a 0-2 deficit on the 26th matchday and won 4-3 in the last minute.

Overall, football fans rated the excitement of the season as an average of 3 out of a possible five stars. When asked how entertaining the league was, survey participants gave an average of 3.6 stars. Compared to the other top-5 leagues in Europe, 46.7 percent of voters rank the Bundesliga in third place – likely behind the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga. Furthermore, 29.2 percent of football enthusiasts rate the German top flight as better, and 24.1 percent as weaker.

All in all, the 2024/25 Bundesliga season offered excitement, surprises, and disappointments – both on the pitch and in terms of fan ratings. Overall, it can be stated that there were some changes compared to the previous season. Nevertheless, some players and teams were able to build on last year's good performances and convince the fans once again. While respondents largely agreed on some aspects, there were close results in other categories where every vote could be decisive. Although most of the awards in our survey went to players from clubs that were also among the top teams in the league table, some professionals showed that one can still make a stir even in a potentially weaker team. The survey highlights that the Bundesliga continues to be of great spectator interest and provides plenty of entertainment and exciting moments.

Here's where to find the detailed Bundesliga season review for fans!

FanQ is the "voice of the fans". It is the only football platform where the opinion of the fans takes centre stage. The experienced FanQ editorial team provides daily surveys via the web and app. Fans can vote on their favourite clubs and all relevant football topics. FanQ is interactive. Fans can exchange opinions, interact socially and ask their own questions. This results in a representative picture of the mood. FanQ also creates long-term studies to research complex topics. Registration for the web community and use of the app are free of charge. FanQ is based in Cologne.

If you have any editorial queries about the survey results, please contact us.

Contact FanQ: 
joachim.lammert@fanq.com 
+49 (0) 163 529 3000 
Kilian Weber/Joachim Lammert 
Managing Director