German champions Borussia Dortmund closed in on another record on Saturday as their 5-2 win over relegated Kaiserslautern took their unbeaten run to 27 league games.
Having broken the Bundesliga record for the longest unbeaten run in a season, Dortmund are now just one behind Bayern Munich’s record of 79 points collected in a single Bundesliga season, which they managed twice in the 1970s.
Having been confirmed league champions for the second season the previous weekend, Dortmund picked up their fifth straight win, with Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios hitting a hat-trick against the league’s bottom team.
Photo: AFP
“It wasn’t so easy to play high-level sport in this weather,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp, alluding to warm temperatures across southern Germany. “In attack, we were very good, but we didn’t concentrate very well in defense. At the end, everything worked well and I am very pleased with the result.”
Borussia Dortmund got off to an inauspicious start at Kaiserslautern when Brazilian defender Felipe Santana scored an own-goal after only 16 minutes to put the hosts ahead, but the champions roared back just two minutes later as Barrios scored two goals in eight minutes to put the guests into a 2-1 lead.
Germany’s teenage star Mario Goetze netted his first league goal for five months, following a groin problem, on 33 minutes to make it 3-1 at the break.
Although Kaiserslautern pulled another goal back just after the break, it was one-way traffic from then on as Barrios completed his hat-trick on 55 minutes, before Croatia midfielder Ivan Perisic scored Dortmund’s fifth on 78 minutes.
Fresh from their penalty shoot-out victory heroics at Real Madrid on Wednesday last week to reach the Champions League final against Chelsea, Bayern enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to VfB Stuttgart.
Germany stars Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller scored for the Bavarians at Munich’s Allianz Arena, their last game at home before the Champions League final.
Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt played his final home game before retiring, while striker Ivica Olic made a rare start ahead of his transfer to VfL Wolfsburg next season.
“For the players, it wasn’t easy to switch back to the Bundesliga, although I must say they have behaved very professionally and demonstrated a good attitude,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. “Joerg pulled off some good saves in his farewell match, but if Olic had taken his chances in the second half, it would have been a bit quieter at the end.”
Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice in Schalke 04’s 4-0 win over Hertha BSC Berlin to make him the league’s top scorer with 27 goals in 32 games.
The win means Schalke will finish third and claim the league’s final direct qualification place for the Champions League.
Hertha remain second from bottom and are battling with Cologne, who lost 4-1 at SC Freiburg, for 16th place, which means an end-of-season playoff to stay in Germany’s top flight against the team which finishes third in the second tier.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s goalless draw at Augsburg confirms their fourth-placed finish, which means they have to win a playoff to qualify for the Champions League.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s former Germany striker Stefan Kiessling hit the winner in their 1-0 win over Hannover 96, which means they finish fifth, giving them a place in the Europa League next season.
Stuttgart will finish sixth, which means a Europa League qualification playoff.
Wolfsburg, who enjoyed a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen with former Germany striker Patrick Helmes scoring twice, are vying with Hannover for seventh spot and the chance to claim a European place.
Hamburg SV and FSV Mainz 05 finished goalless, while Nuremberg won 3-2 at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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