(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-31 17:31

BERLIN, Aug 31 - Real Madrid spent another king's ransom and Liverpool broke their transfer record but the big surprise over the close season was to see Bayern Munich belie their parsimonious nature and lay out some serious cash.

Bayern were so stung by their failure to qualify for the Champions League that they spent over 70 million euros ($95.69 million) to build a side to take the Bundesliga by storm.

The bulk of the money went on a new attacking trio: French midfielder Franck Ribery for 26 million euros from Olympique Marseille, Italy striker Luca Toni from Fiorentina for 11 million and Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen for 12 million.

"I wish I'd done this years ago," Bayern manager Uli Hoeness said. "It would have been good for my quality of life."

No one else in Germany can match that financial muscle. The biggest buy elsewhere was the eight million euros Werder Bremen spent to sign Carlos Alberto from Brazilian club Corinthians.

In Spain, even smaller clubs had money to join in a mammoth spending spree funded by new television contracts, stadium sales and, in many cases, a brazen attitude towards debt.

"The league of excess," El Pais said of the Primera Liga after record spending of 470 million euros ($642.5 million).

Real topped the spending charts by splashing out close to 120 million euros on eight additions to their title-winning squad. Arjen Robben (36 million euros), Pepe (30 million) and Wesley Sneijder (27 million) were the three biggest deals.

After the disappointments last season, Barcelona reinvigorated their squad with a 68 million-euro investment in France striker Thierry Henry, defenders Gabriel Milito and Eric Abidal and the promising Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure.

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