Bayern strike late to snatch Bundesliga title from Dortmund
BERLIN: Jamal Musiala scored in the 89th minute for Bayern Munich to snatch the Bundesliga title from Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 victory at Cologne after Dortmund could only draw on the final day of the season.
Dortmund, which was leading by two points before the last round, was held 2-2 at home by Mainz on Saturday, allowing Bayern to finish in first place because of its better goal difference.
Dortmund needed to win to be sure of ending Bayern’s record 10-year reign as champion. It became the first team in 23 years to squander the lead on the last day. “We were one round away before this game, we were 90 minutes from bringing the trophy back to Dortmund,” coach Edin Terzic said.
“In the end we were one goal away. And that’s very close. Tomorrow we’ll be 34 rounds away again, and then we’ll work on it, we’ll stand up. From July we’ll invest everything again to do it better than we did this year . ... Now it’s about simply using the next 34 rounds to finally manage it.” Bayern announced shortly after winning its 11th straight title that it had fired chief executive Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamid ic.
Both were under scrutiny for their decision to fire Julian Nagelsmann as coach in March and replace him with Thomas Tuchel right before the team’s Champions League and German Cup exits. Tuchel said Friday that even a Bundesliga title win would not mask what has been an unsatisfactory season for the Bavarian powerhouse. Kahn responded to his firing on Twitter, where he congratulated the team and said he’d like to celebrate with the players “but unfortunately I can’t be there today because I wasn’t allowed by the club.”
It’s just the third time Bayern managed to jump to first place on the last day of the season after it edged Werder Bremen to the title in 1986 and Bayer Leverkusen in 2000.
“I think anyone who’s interested in soccer, particularly German soccer, will say we don’t deserve it”.