German Bundesliga Preview

(CNN) -- CNN.com's Football Fan Zone looks ahead to the new season in Germany which kicks off on Friday August 15.

The Champions

Bayern Munich bounced back in superb style last season after some inspired signings in last summer's transfer window.

Veteran former coach Ottmar Hitzfeld had been inticed back for one final hurrah after Bayern had suffered the ignominy of failing to reach the Champions League by finishing only fourth behind Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

And Hitzfeld worked the oracle in spectacular style, bringing in French wizard Franck Ribery and Italian striker Luca Toni to compliment his already talented squad. Bayern cruised to the Bundesliga title by 10 points, did the double with victory in the German Cup final, and only succumbed to eventual winners Zenit St Petersburg in the semifinals of the UEFA Cup.

With Hitzfeld now gone, former Bayern hero Jurgen Klinsmann has taken up the reigns for his first managerial job in club football. The 44-year-old was a success in leading Germany to the semifinals of the World Cup but it remains to be seen how he copes with the pressure of coaching Germany's top club.

Klinsmann has kept his powder dry in the transfer market, with Germany midfielder Tim Borowski the only significant addition, but his squad is so overladen with talent it is difficult to see how it can be improved.

Yet again it appears that Bayern will be the team to beat. The only major change to the side has seen Oliver Kahn's long-time backup Michael Rensing take over the No.1 jersey after the retirement of the veteran international keeper.

The Challengers

Werder Bremen pipped Schalke for second place last season, thanks in part to a potent attack which saw them score 75 goals, seven more than champions Bayern and 17 more than third highest Wolfsburg.

Werder's strength is their continuity. Long-serving coach Thomas Schaff is Werder through and through -- and has remarkably been at the club since joining as a schoolboy player in 1972. He has been coach for nine years and continues to work wonders, keeping the club near the top of the Bundersliga year after year -- as well as masterminding their title victory in 2004.

However, this season, Werder must do without Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic, who has left for Nantes in France after a legal dispute regarding his kidney condition, and goalscoring midfielder Tim Borowski, who was snapped up by Bayern Munich.

Brazilian playmaker Diego continues to be the fulcrum of the side, while young striker Aaron Hunt was a regular last season and is tipped to progress further. Defensive stability is provided by internationals Per Mertesacker and midfield warhorse Torsten Frings.

Schalke continue to be there or thereabouts in Germany and have finished in the top three in three of the last four seasons. However, they have taken over from Leverkusen as the nearly men of German football, finishing Bundesliga runners-up in 2005 and 2007, German Cup runners-up in 2005 and German League Cup runners-up in 2007.

The last of their seven league titles came exactly 50 years ago and new Dutch coach Fred Rutten is the man responsible for trying to break that long title drought. So far, his dealings in the transfer market have been encouraging and Rutten has used his knowledge of Dutch football to enhance the Gelsenkirchen club's squad.

Giant midfielder Orlando Engelaar impressed for the Dutch in Euro 2008 and Schalke moved quickly to sign him from FC Twente, while Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan averaged a goal every other game in his four seasons with PSV Eindhoven and will add more potency to an attack that already boasts German internationals Kevin Kuranyi and the long-serving Gerald Asamoah.

Point to prove

Jurgen Klinsmann rode the crest of a wave of national pride in 2006 when he led a young and talented Germany squad to the last four of the home World Cup, falling to eventual champions Italy in an epic semifinal encounter.

That was Klinsmann's first and so far only coaching job and he has kept himself out of the limelight since handing over the national team's reigns to Joachim Loew. A showman on the pitch, Klinsmann is deep thinking and private off it and resisted very public overtures from both Liverpool and the U.S. national team while taking a break from the game.

London clubs Chelsea and Tottenham were also rumored to have been keen on recruiting Klinsmann, but eventually the lure of coaching the biggest club side in German football proved too great.

With success in the Bundesliga expected, Klinsmann's remit will be to bring Champions League glory back to Bavaria for the first time since 2001; anything less might see the former Bayern hero under immediate pressure to keep his job.

New boys

Two of German football's most famous names are back in the Bundesliga as Moenchengladbach and Cologne make welcome returns to the top flight alongside fellow-new boys Hoffenheim.

Five-times champions 'Gladbach were exiled for just one season, winning the second division by six points just one season after their relegation. One of the biggest clubs in Germany, 'Gladbach command impressive support and Dutch coach Jos Luhukay will be expected to keep them up this season.

Veteran striker and captain Oliver Neuville continues to be their star attraction and his impressive displays last season ensured he kept his place in the German national squad for Euro 2008, despite playing outside the Bundesliga.

Cologne are back in the top flight after a two-season absence and despite becoming a yo-yo club over the last 10 years, hopes are high that they can remain in the Bundesliga under experienced, but controversial, coach Christophe Daum -- who is in his second spell in charge.

Experienced defenders Pierre Wome (ex-Werder Bremen) and Miso Brecko (ex-Hamburg) have been drafted in but goals could be a problem following the loss of influential German striker and former club captain Patrick Helmes to Leverkusen.

Ambitious Hoffenheim have made rapid progress through the German football pyramid in recent seasons and have reached the Bundesliga for the first time in their history after just one season in the second division. They will begin the season at Carl-Benz Stadium in Mannheim before their own 30,000 Rhein-Neckar-Arena is completed early next year.

In Ralf Rangnick they certainly have a coach with a wealth of experience. The 50-year-old has coached Stuttgart and Schalke in the top flight and despite his squad's lack of experience at this level, they will be organized and disciplined under Rangnick.

Hello

No team has been busier in the transfer market than ambitious Wolfsburg and Felix Magath's side are aiming to build on their superb fifth-place last season.

The most eye-catching of their new signings has been Italian defender Cristian Zaccardo. The 26-year-old cost Wolfsburg $12.4 million from Palermo and becomes the second current Italian international, after Luca Toni, to ply his trade in the Bundesliga.

Zaccardo played a key role in Italy's Euro 2008 squad and his signing is a real statement of intent as Wolfsburg aim for a Champions League place this season.

Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann returns to the Bundesliga from Arsenal to join Stuttgart after the London side chose not to renew his contract.

Eccentric and unpredictable, the 38-year-old continues to have the support of national coach Joachim Loew and he played in all six games as Germany reached the final of Euro 2008, losing to Spain.

Goodbye

As one veteran goalkeeper returns to the Bundesliga, another says goodbye with Bayern Munich and national team legend Oliver Kahn choosing to hang up his gloves.

Over the last four years, Lehmann and Kahn were involved in a public and often bitter battle for the No.1 position in the national team, with then coach Jurgen Klinsmann so undecided about who to select, that he would alternate between the pair from match to match.

Now, aged 39, Kahn has decided to call it a day, after nearly 450 first team matches for Bayern Munich in 14 years -- as well as 86 matches for his country.

Eight Bundesliga titles, six German Cups, six German League Cups, a Champions League winners medal, a UEFA Cup winners medal, a European Championship winners medal and a World Cup runners-up medal show how glittering Kahn's career was and it will be a long time before another player matches his medal haul for both club and country.