AFP, Berlin :
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund resume the chase to knock Bayern Munich from the top of the German league having made eight new signings-and losing a trio of stars.
Dortmund start their campaign at home to coach Thomas Tuchel’s ex-club Mainz on Saturday.
But things looked bleak when captain Mats Hummels, then midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan announced, one after the other, that they were leaving during the close season.
But no other German club was as busy in the transfer market, with Dortmund quickly re-investing the 89.5 million euros ($100m) they made in selling Hummels to Bayern, Gundogan to Manchester City and Mkhitaryan to Manchester United.
Bayern claimed a fourth straight German league title last season, finishing ten points clear of Dortmund, whose points haul of 78 would have given them the title in 49 of the 53 Bundesliga seasons to date.
Ottmar Hitzfeld, who coached both Bayern and Dortmund during his career, expects Tuchel’s Borussia to give the Bavarians a run for their money again this season.
