Page 3 - 3 Managers who changed their clubs fortunes in their first year

LUCIEN FAVRE

Favre could bring back title back to the Westfalenstadion

Dortmund blew hot and cold last season, ending the season on fourth and making it to the UCL spot only on goal difference and ending up 29 points behind their rivals Bayern Munich. Favre was signed from Nice to stop the free fall that the club has been in since Klopp left.

To start with, Dortmund made outstanding signings in the summer. Diallo, Witsel and Alcacer have been the standout signings. Alcacer looks like a man reborn. Currently the top scorer with 11 goals averaging a goal every 39 minutes.

Sancho has been bossing the league since the start of the season with 7 assists and 5 goals in just 900 minutes. Reus is finally the player that everyone saw him be. The captain of Die Schwarzgelben has hit peak form this season scoring 10 and assisting a further 5.

All in all, Favre has fit all the different pieces together to form a masterpiece. 15 games into the season, BVB already sit comfortably at the top of the table 9 points clear of local rivals M'Gladbach. Only one side in the league has conceded fewer than their 15 while they have also outscored every other team in the league.

They have successfully taken their league form to Europe as well. Topping their group and conceding just two goals. The cherry on the cake was a 4-0 battering of a well drilled Atletico Madrid side, handing Diego Simeone his biggest ever loss in European competitions.

Favre took a dwindling Dortmund team and made them genuine title contenders, no mean feat considering their fortunes in the past few seasons.