BAYERN LOSE TO MAINZ, HAALAND TREBLE IN VAIN FOR DORTMUND

BERLIN: Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich suffered a titleparty hangover Saturday with a shock 3-1 defeat at Mainz, while Erling Haaland claimed a hattrick even though Borussia Dortmund crashed 4-3 at home to Bochum.

A week after Bayern beat second-placed Dortmund 3-1 in Munich to be crowned league champions for the tenth straight season, Germany’s top two clubs both lost.

Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann was furious after his team’s lacklustre display at Mainz, who also hit the woodwork four times in a deserved victory.

“There are too many defeats, too many in the same manner,” Nagelsmann fumed.

“I think we always need a certain basic passion in our game, which we didn’t have today.

“To not go to the limit in every situation is human after the tenth title in a row, but we still wear the badge on our chest.”

Germany Under-21 striker Jonathan Burkardt and French defender Moussa Niakhate gave Mainz an early 2-0 lead after exploiting huge holes in Bayern’s defence. The Bavarians pulled one back when Robert Lewandowski rolled in his 34th Bundesliga goal this season, claiming a league record after scoring 18 times away this campaign. Midfielder Leandro Barreiro grabbed Mainz’s third goal just after the break when his shot took a wicked deflection and looped into the Bayern goal.

In Dortmund, Bochum raced into a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes thanks to goals by Sebastian Polter and Gerrit Holtmann. Haaland led the fightback by converting two penalties, then tapped in his third goal with an hour played.

However, Bochum hit back with goals in the final ten minutes. Juergen Locadia fired one in before Milos Pantovic converted the winning penalty after a handball by Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel.

Bochum claimed their second significant scalp this year following February’s shock home win over Bayern.