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By Kevin Fylan
BERLIN, May 5 (Reuters) - Ottmar Hitzfeld will bow out of Germany a contented man after restoring Bayern Munich to pride of place in the Bundesliga but he is leaving plenty of work for Juergen Klinsmann to do if they are to compete again in Europe.
Bayern enjoyed their traditional beer-soaked celebrations after a goalless draw at Wolfsburg on Sunday sealed a 21st German championship and a third domestic double in four seasons.
The 59-year-old Hitzfeld will take over as coach of Switzerland once Euro 2008 is over and he is proud to be leaving a strong team for Klinsmann when he comes in to replace him.
"I think I'm passing on a side that can challenge at the top once again next season," Hitzfeld said after clinching the seventh German league title of his career.
"The club spent heavily on players so the pressure was enormous. Winning the title makes it all worthwhile."
Franck Ribery and Luca Toni adjusted immediately to the Bundesliga and Hitzfeld deserves credit for that.
The French midfielder, signed for 30 million euros ($46.4 million) from Olympique Marseille, was the outstanding creative player in the league, thrilling everyone with his deft touch and clever eye.
Toni, a snip at 11 million euros from Fiorentina, leads the goalscoring charts with 21 in 29 Bundesliga games so far and 36 in 44 games in all competitions.
Mark van Bommel and Ze Roberto gave the team security in midfield, while Daniel Van Buyten and Lucio commanded a defence that has conceded just 18 league goals.
However, there is also much that will concern Klinsmann as he prepares for his first job as a club coach, two years after masterminding Germany's run to third place at the World Cup.
TOUGH DECISIONS
Firstly he has to decide whether Michael Rensing is ready to step up from his understudy role to replace goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who retires at the age of 38 after one of the best seasons of his career.
Full-back Philipp Lahm wants to leave, while Miroslav Klose has been in a slump for the second half of the season and fellow striker Lukas Podolski has been awful pretty much throughout.
Klinsmann's task will be to get Bayern playing with the pace and spirit of adventure that characterised his Germany side.
When Ribery was on form they played that sort of game, but when the Frenchman was absent or slightly off his best they have looked slow and predictable, too often just knocking in high balls for Toni.
That was most obvious in the UEFA Cup, where they needed a miraculous recovery to stave off defeat against Getafe in the quarter-finals before Zenit St Petersburg humiliated them with their lightning counter-attacking game in the last four.
Bayern have not made it as far as the semi-finals of the Champions League since they won the competition for the fourth time in 2001 and English clubs in particular have raised the bar still higher this season.
Tim Borowski will be Klinsmann's first signing when he arrives on a free transfer from Werder Bremen at the end of the season, and the Germany midfielder should provide a little of that much needed urgency.
Klinsmann will need manager Uli Hoeness to make the sort of financial commitment that led to Toni and Ribery joining last year if Bayern are to become European players once again.
