Bayern Munich officially sealed the Bundesliga title by winning 3-1 at relegated Hertha Berlin in the final round on Saturday.
Arjen Robben had two goals in the victory that left Bayern five points ahead of Schalke in the final standings and brought their 22nd championship. Schalke drew 0-0 at Mainz — goalkeeper Manuer Neuer stopped a penalty by Miroslav Karhan — and will join Bayern in the Champions League next season.
Bayern went into the final round with a three-point lead over Schalke and a vastly superior goal difference and were virtually assured of the title.
PHOTO: EPA
Bayern players chased their first-year coach Louis van Gaal after the match to give him the traditional beer shower and caught up with him, with midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger the first to empty a huge stein over the Dutchman’s head.
Van Gaal, who said before the game that he didn’t like being doused by beer, left his usual suit in the locker room at halftime and, knowing what was coming, changed into a training suit.
Bayern will return to Berlin next weekend for the German Cup final against Werder Bremen.
Bayern can achieve a rare treble if they beats Inter in the Champions League final on May 22 in Madrid. Inter coach Jose Mourinho watched Saturday’s game in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Bayern finished with 70 points, Schalke with 65 and Werder Bremen 61.
Bremen clinched third place and a slot in qualifying for the Champions League by drawing 1-1 with Hamburg, who will not compete in Europe next season.
Claudio Pizarro scored for Bremen, tying him with Giovane Elber for the most goals scored by a foreign player in the Bundesliga at 133.
Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart will be in the Europa League, at various stages of qualifying.
Leverkusen drew 1-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach to finish fourth at 59. Dortmund stayed fifth at 57 after losing 3-1 at Freiburg.
Stuttgart drew 1-1 in Jens Lehmann’s final game at Hoffenheim to finish sixth at 57 points. Lehmann, the 40-year-old former Germany and Arsenal goalkeeper, retired.
Hannover won 3-0 at Bochum to send the home team to the second division. Nuremberg beat Cologne 1-0 and will go into a playoff against Augsburg, the third-place team in the second division, with the winner in the top tier next season.
Ivica Olic scored the opening goal in Berlin, where a crowd of 75,420 turned out to see Bayern celebrate the title and bid farewell to Hertha, who were demoted after nine years in the top division.
Van Gaal’s team, which had a sputtering start to the season, at the end finished with 20 wins, 72 goals and 31 conceded — the same as Schalke — for the best record in the league.
The Dutch coach has now won national titles in three different countries — after the Netherlands and Spain.
Edin Dzeko scored once in Wolfsburg’s 3-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to end as the league’s top scorer with 22 goals. He scored 26 last season, when Wolfsburg won the title.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
RSS