Mon, May 25, 2009 page20

• BUNDES LIGA: Wolfsburg win maiden Bundesliga title

  GOAL MACHINE: Wolfsburg put five past Werder Bremen, with strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko setting a new Bundesliga record of 54 goals between them this season

  • AFP
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  German Bundesliga

  

  Wolfsburg’s Grafite gets showered with beer as he holds the top scorer trophy after their Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen in Wolfsburg, Germany, on Saturday.

  PHOTO: AP WARNING: EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL CAN DAMAGE Y

  Wolfsburg won their maiden Bundesliga title on Saturday with a 5-1 victory over Werder Bremen as their strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko set a new goal-scoring record for a German league partnership.

  Between them Bosnia’s Dzeko and Brazil’s Grafite have scored 54 goals this season to break the previous record set by Bayern Munich’s Gerd Muller and Uli Hoeness in the 1970s.

  “It’s completely mad to have won the championship and got the record,” Dzeko said. “It’s a great feeling — we will celebrate all night long.”

  The victory means champions Wolfsburg finish the season two points clear to take their Champions League place for next season and give Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath his third Bundesliga title, having won the German league twice before with Bayern.

  Magath leaves to coach and manage Schalke 04 next season, while defending champions Bayern finish the season second after beating Stuttgart.

  “I knew that we were good enough,” Magath said. “We put in some good performances all season and we deserved to be champions. Of course, it will be hard to leave now.”

  Wolfsburg took the lead at home to Bremen after just six minutes when Bosnian playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic fired the hosts into the lead. Grafite underlined his status as the league’s top-scorer when he slipped his marker Naldo to add a second after 15 minutes.

  The result was put beyond doubt after only 26 minutes when Grafite fired his shot off the boot of Bremen defender Sebastian Proedl and into the net.

  Werder’s Brazilian Diego made it 3-1 after 31 minutes, but Grafite struck for the 28th time this season when he headed home from Misimovic on 56 minutes to make it 4-1.

  Dzeko hit their fifth goal on 74 minutes to set the new record with his 26th goal to bring the title to Wolfsburg.

  Bayern Munich made sure of their Champions League place for next season when they beat title rivals VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

  Before the game Bayern bid farewell to caretaker coach Jupp Heynckes, who will be replaced by Louis van Gaal on July 1, and Germany striker Lukas Podolski, who is returning to Cologne after three years in Munich.

  Munich went ahead after only 16 minutes when French midfielder Franck Ribery saw his shot deflect off the boot of Stuttgart’s Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz. Bayern extended their lead when captain Mark van Bommel hit their second on 60 minutes, before Germany striker Mario Gomez pulled a goal back three minutes later.

  Despite losing to Bayern, Stuttgart can now qualify for the Champions League after they finished third.

  Hertha Berlin have to be content with a Europa League spot after they slumped to a 4-0 defeat to Karlsruhe who were relegated, but the victory took them off the bottom of the table.

  Hamburg’s 3-2 win at Eintracht Frankfurt was sealed by an injury-time goal from Germany winger Piotr Trochowski which gives them fifth and a Europa League place for next season.

  Borussia Dortmund finished sixth and miss out on the Europa League after their 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

  Arminia Bielefeld were the other side relegated after their 2-2 draw at home to Hannover 96.

  Energie Cottbus will find out next weekend if they have survived the dreaded drop after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to claim 16th place, which means a play-off with the third-placed side in the second division.

  In the other results, VfL Bochum drew 1-1 at Cologne and Hoffenheim won 3-2 at Schalke 04.

  	Team	P	GD	Pts
  1	Wolfsburg	34	39	69
  2	Bayern Munich	34	29	67
  3	VfB Stuttgart	34	20	64
  4	Hertha Berlin	34	7	63
  5	Hamburg	34	2	61
  6	Borussia Dortmund	34	23	59
  7	TSG Hoffenheim	34	14	55
  8	Schalke 04	34	12	50
  9	Bayer Leverkusen	34	13	49
  10	Werder Bremen	34	14	45
  11	Hannover 96	34	-20	40
  12	Cologne	34	-15	39
  13	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	-21	33
  14	VfL Bochum	34	-16	32
  15	Borussia M’gladbach	34	-23	31
  16	Cottbus	34	-27	30
  17	Karlsruhe	34	-24	29
  18	Arminia Bielefeld	34	-27	28

   
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