German Bundesliga 2011-2012 Preview: Borussia Dortmund Defends Championship, Hamburg Fight For Europe

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Since their amazing 55 point campaign in their first Bundesliga season in 2008-2009, Hoffenheim has had two straight finishes in the low 40s. They have two solid forwards in Ryan Babel and Vedad Ibišević. Newly aquired forward Zimbabwean Knowledge Musona looks to be a very tidy new signing for new manager Holger Stanislawski. Defender Fabian Johnson joins the club from an unsuccessful few years at Wolfsburg. He'll be hoping to regain the form that saw Wolfsburg buy him from 1860 Munich in 2009. The club was able to keep captain Andreas Beck at the club after a summer full of transfer rumors that he was leaving the club. Beck's an outstanding player in the back, and he and Johnson could be a solid pair of defenders for the club. Tom Starke isn't the greatest goalkeeper, but he gets the job done in net for them. Yes, I realize that this pick is questionable at best, but I think I'm putting my faith in Stanislawski bringing a change of culture to the club and they'll get closer to one of those European places.

Borussia Dortmund
Fans of German soccer were treated to a treat last season every single time that Dortmund stepped on the pitch. Every great teams starts in the back, and Dortmund has the best defense by far in the division. Starting in the net with the excellent Roman Weidenfeller, Dortmund's back four will set the tone for every match they're in this season. Chris Löwe, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic and Łukasz Piszczek form one of the most elite backlines in Europe. Dortmund only lost one of the key components (if not THE key component) to the championship winning side in Turkish midfielder Nuri Şahin. Şahin made the move to Real Madrid during the summer, and manager Jürgen Klopp brought in Nürnberg midfielder İlkay Gündoğan to replace him. Gündoğan's ability to step in and replace Şahin will be important to the club. Şahin was the direct link from the defenders to the attack. Gündoğan has the potential and the talent around him to make the step up in class, and it will be important for him to do so if Dortmund has plans to retain. He'll be paired in the middle with club captain Sebastian Kehl or Sven Bender. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better collection of attacking midfielders on any team in the world than what they have in Dortmund. The starting trio of Mario Götze, Shinji Kagawa and Kevin Großkreutz are good enough in their own right, but then you add Jakub Błaszczykowski, Antônio da Silva, Moritz Leitner and new signing Ivan Perišić to the group and they are amazing. Their depth at forward will be tested at the beginning of the season with Lucas Barrios set to be out for a month so expect to see Robert Lewandowski and even Mohamed Zidan running the show up top. Klopp's ability to hang on to almost this entire team throughout the summer is nothing short of spectacular. Those not yet introduced to this talented Dortmund team will get a rude awakening in the UEFA Champions League this season.

Hamburger SV
Hamburg spent the summer seeing a ton of players coming and going. The players leaving the club include Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jonathan Pitroipa, Piotr Trochowski, Ze Roberto, Joris Mathijsen and Frank Rost. Since Frank Arnesen was announced as the club's sporting director in the spring, he's made it a point to bring young athletic players to the side. Michael Mancienne and Jeffrey Bruma leave Chelsea and join a defense featuring Heiko Westermann, Dennis Aogo and Dennis Diekmeier. Hamburg has the ability to play a quick, attacking trio of attacking midfielders in Eljero Elia, Änis Ben-Hatira and the Son Heung-Min. Midfielder Per Ciljan Skjelbred is joining the club on August 3 from Rosenborg, and he should add some depth to their midfield. It appears that Mladen Petrić will be the lone forward up top for them. He's out of contract at the end of the season and so far he and the club have failed to come to an agreement. Having a "hungry" Petrić patrolling up top can only be good for Hamburg. In reserve they do have Peru international Paolo Guerrero. Guerrero is coming off an excellent Copa America where he finished as the leading goalscorer with 5 goals. This is a talented Hamburg side, and they should be pushing for a European place by season's end.