Lacking fanfare
Bayern Munich wins 8th straight Bundesliga title in empty stadium
BREMEN, Germany — For the eighth straight year, Bayern Munich’s players celebrated winning the Bundesliga title on Tuesday.
This celebration, though, was unlike any of the previous seven.
The players’ cheers echoed around an empty stadium after a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen secured the title with two rounds to go.
With no fans in the stands because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was a subdued and strange display of emotions as the players put on commemorative T-shirts and waved to their absent supporters.
German media have dubbed the team the “Geister-Meister” — the ghost champions.
“Celebrating without the fans is a bit complicated,” Robert Lewandowski told broadcaster Sky. “The atmosphere is missing and something else, not the motivation, but the passion from the fans.”
The game which secured the title was anything but typical Bayern, which has made a habit of exuberant, high-scoring wins.
Lewandowski’s goal earned a hard-fought, physical win over Werder which became a battle after Alphonso Davies was sent off in the 79th minute. If not for a late one-handed save by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, the celebrations would have had to wait.
The win put Bayern 10 points clear of secondplace Borussia Dortmund, which can earn a maximum nine points from its three remaining games.
“Time to celebreight,” the club wrote on Twitter to mark the record-extending streak of titles.
Werder, which is fighting against relegation, kept Bremen at bay for most of the first half but the champions still found a breakthrough. Jerome Boateng played a perfectly weighted ball over the defense in the 43rd minute for Lewandowski to control on his chest and hit past the goalkeeper for his 31st Bundesliga goal this season.
Bayern finished with 10 men after a second yellow card for Davies. The Canadian left-back had a game of extremes, setting a new league record for fastest sprint, but also coming close to a straight red card after seemingly kicking out at Werder’s Leonardo Bittencourt. Davies only received a yellow card for that incident, but was later booked again for a clumsy challenge.
Werder used its full coronavirus-era allowance of five substitutions to bring on extra attackers and chase a draw. They would have had a point if not for Neuer, who made a crucial late diving save to stop Yuya Osako’s header.
At the final whistle coach Hansi Flick brushed aside social distancing rules to hug his staff as a smattering of club officials in the stands shook hands. That made Germany the first major European league to crown a champion after resuming play amid the coronavirus pandemic. Paris Saint-Germain was named French champion in April, but that was after the rest of the season was canceled.