Bayern Munich wins 8th straight Bundesliga title

BREMEN, Germany — For the eighth straight year, Bayern Munich’s players celebrated winning the Bundesliga title.

This celebration, though, was unlike any of the previous seven.

The players’ cheers echoed around an empty stadium after a 1-0 win at Werder Bremen on Tuesday 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,” 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.

Robert 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 second-place Borussia Dortmund, which can earn a maximum nine points from its three remaining games. amid the Coronavirus pandemic this ummer, it would start with the playoffs and with 24 teams, preferably split between two hub cities. The league has narrowed down its potential sites to 10 cities, including Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver in Canada.

The NHL has said it will not choose a Canadian city if players are subject to the mandatory, 14-day quarantine currently in effect at the border. Trudeau also said Tuesday that Canada and the United States will continue to limit non-essential travel between the two countries until at least July 21.

The NHL is currently allowing its players to use team facilities to train in small groups. Training camps are cleared to begin July 10.