Bayern Munich won their 23rd German league title in record time on Saturday by winning 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt to open up an unassailable 20-point lead with six games remaining.
The Bavarians ended the two-year reign of Borussia Dortmund by clinching a 22nd Bundesliga title faster than any club in the league’s 50-year history.
Bastian Schweinsteiger flicked the ball into the net with a neat back-heel in the 52nd minute to lift Bayern to 75 points ahead of second-placed Dortmund, who beat Augsburg 4-2.
Photo: EPA
“It’s a fantastic moment and I’m winning a league title after 23 years again,” said coach Jupp Heynckes, who guided Bayern to the championship in 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 during his first stint as coach.
“I have won a few championships in my time as player and coach, but never when it was still that cold,” he said of the fastest title win in Bundesliga history. “My players are now harvesting all the work they put in throughout the year. They put into action exactly what I told them.”
Heynckes will make way for Spaniard Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, by which time Bayern, who are chasing an unprecedented treble for a German club, might have added the UEFA Champions League and DFB Pokal trophies.
Fresh from a 2-0 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg victory at home to Juventus, Bayern should have taken the lead much earlier against Frankfurt, with Xherdan Shaqiri rattling the post with a low shot in the 10th minute.
David Alaba missed a penalty by firing against the same spot 15 minutes later as the visitors showed some nervousness, but Germany international Schweinsteiger made sure of their 11th straight league win this year with his seventh goal of the campaign, turning in a superb Philipp Lahm cross after the fullback’s burst down the right wing.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer needed to come to the rescue late in the game as sixth-placed Frankfurt, battling for a Champions League spot, poured forward.
“You feel that this team wants more,” club boss Uli Hoeness said. “Now we want to win the Champions League and the DFB Pokal [German Cup]. There will be time to celebrate at some point.”
There was some singing and dancing on the pitch in Frankfurt, but no big title party in Munich, as Bayern are focusing on the second leg at Juventus this week.
“We really wanted to win this and get the title out of the way,” Bayern captain Lahm said. “There will be one or two beers that will be opened on the way back tonight, but we now want to focus on Juventus. It [the season] is not finished yet.”
Bayern’s 23rd league title covers their 22 Bundesliga crowns and a German national championship trophy in 1932.
Dortmund rested seven key players ahead of their own Champions League quarter-final, second-leg at home to Malaga this week, but had little trouble easing past Augsburg, despite briefly trailing 2-1.
Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski sealed their victory with his 21st goal of the campaign in stoppage-time after a Julian Schieber brace.
Fourth-placed Schalke 04 boosted their hopes of a Champions League place next season by beating Werder Bremen 2-0 away with goals from Julian Draxler and Ciprian Marica to reach 45 points, four behind Bayer 04 Leverkusen who drew 1-1 at home with VfL Wolfsburg.
Hamburg SV failed to bounce back after the previous weekend’s 9-2 demolition by Bayern as they slumped to a 1-0 home defeat by SC Freiburg, who also twice hit the woodwork, piling more pressure on coach Thorsten Fink.
The result lifted surprise package Freiburg to fifth place on 42 points, with Hamburg stuck in ninth on 38 and drifting further away from the European qualifying spots.
In Saturday’s other match, Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated rock-bottom SpVgg Greuther Furth 1-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care