Bundesliga Bulletin: Bayern Munich seal the title, Leverkusen sneak into top four

May 18, 2019

Good week for: Bayern Munich, Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, goals, drama

Bad week for: Augsburg, Gladbach, Hoffenheim, final day title twists

The lowdown:

— It took until the final 30 minutes of the final day until it was clear who was going to win the Bundesliga title. At that point, Bayern were 3-1 ahead against Frankfurt, which meant that Dortmund’s 2-0 lead in Mönchengladbach mattered not. BVB’s title dreams were over as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben came off the bench to score a goal each in a fitting finish to their Bundesliga careers. In the end, Bayern were just much better than Frankfurt, and a bit better than Dortmund. Sometimes that is enough.

— The race for the European spots was perhaps even more dramatic than the title race. Frankfurt were in, then out and then finally back in again thanks to Mainz’s incredible turnaround against Hoffenheim. Leverkusen’s huge win in Berlin combined with Gladbach’s loss saw Peter Bosz’s side take the coveted fourth spot, while Wolfsburg sealed a crazy 8-1 win against Augsburg to jump into sixth. Despite beating RB Leipzig, Bremen finished one point outside of the European spots. What a finish.

— Even though they weren’t involved in a race for anything, other teams still managed to score a hatful of goals. Freiburg put five past relegated Nuremberg, while Düsseldorf edged out Hannover to seal a remarkable 10th-placed finish for the newly-promoted team. Somewhat unsurprisingly the one game of the day not to be at was Schalke against Stuttgart (a 0-0 draw).

Bundesliga 34. Spieltag | FC Bayern München - Eintracht Frankfurt | Meisterschaftsfeier Bayern (Getty Images/AFP/J. MacDougall)

Arjen Robben celebrates winning the Bundesliga title

The quotes:

“It was tough. Today is my last moment here with the fans and my teammates. I wasn’t here for two or three years. I was here 12.” – Franck Ribery after his final Bundesliga game

“I think against teams like Düsseldorf or Nuremberg, with all respect, we have to win those games. We can still be happy with what we’ve achieved.” – Roman Bürki after Dortmund’s final game.

“I play football because I love it. Titles would be nice and they are a part of it, but I play the game because I love it.” – Marco Reus after Dortmund won their final game but not the title

“We believe in ourselves.” – Stuttgart’s interim head coach Nico Willig said ahead of the relegation playoff

“I assume I will see out my contract.” – Niko Kovac after winning the Bundesliga amid talks of his future

“We’ve reached fourth place. With that we’ve achieved something special.” – Peter Bosz on Leverkusen securing Champions League for next season.

The stats:

— Bayern Munich won their 28th Bundesliga title, as many as every other club combined.

— 41 goals were scored on the final matchday of the season, the most on the final day since 2002.

— Franck Ribery scored his 86th Bundesliga goal, and collected his 31st yellow card after taking his shirt off while celebrating. The Frenchman also became the first player to win nine Bundesliga titles.

— Ribery and Robben leave the Bundesliga as the most prolific scorers from their respective countries. Ribery (123 goals) leads the way for France, while Robben (98 goals) does so for the Netherlands.

— For the first time since the 1984-1985 season, Werder Bremen finished the season having scored in every one of their 17 home games.

— RB Leipzig fielded their youngest lineup (22 years and 202 days) in a competitive game since being promoted to the third division.

— Wolfsburg’s 8-1 win against Augsburg is the club’s biggest Bundesliga win, and also

The weird:

Marco Reus’ cross for Dortmund’s opener looked over the goalline, but after a VAR check referee Manuel Gräfe gave the goal. There is no goalline technology outside of the goal so the judgement was left to the referee and the replay. Reus said afterwards he thought it was over the line and that Dortmund were lucky to get the decision. Although it ended up not mattering in the context of the title race, Gladbach might be aggrieved that just before the half they conceded a goal that perhaps shouldn’t have stood – in a game they needed to win to seal Champions League football.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Bayern Munich 5-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Bayern Munich claimed their seventh straight Bundesliga title with a 4-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. Kingsley Coman’s early strike put Bayern ahead, but Sebastien Haller’s equalizer briefly suggested things wouldn’t go to script. But David Alaba and Renato Sanches put Bayern in control before substitutes Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben sealed the title in style with the fourth and fifth.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Dortmund beat Gladbach 2-0 but it was not enough to win the title. Jadon Sancho gave the visitors the lead in first-half stoppage time and Marco Reus doubled that lead nine minutes after the restart, but it was ultimately a disappointing afternoon for Lucien Favre’s side. It was disappointing for Gladbach too, who missed out on Champions League qualification.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Hertha Berlin 1-5 Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen took advantage of the defeats for Gladbach and Frankfurt to secure fourth place and Champions League football next season. Peter Bosz’s side took the lead through Kai Havertz, who notched his fourth goal in four games. Valentino Lazaro leveled but Leverkusen came out firing in the second half with Julian Brandt’s goal and a second half Lucas Alario hat trick securing the win.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Wolfsburg 8-1 Augsburg

Wout Weghorst scored a hat trick as Wolfsburg embarrassed Augsburg on the final day. Weghorst completed his treble 10 minutes after the restart before Daniel Ginczek and Elvis Rexhbecaj got in on the act. Julian Schieber scored a late consolation but things got even worse in the final five minutes, with Josip Brekalo and a Kevin Danso own goal completing Augsburg’s misery.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Freiburg 5-1 Nuremberg

Nils Petersen struck twice as Freiburg thumped relegated Nuremberg. Marco Terrazzino set Freiburg on their way with an early opener and Luca Waldschmidt made it two before half time. Petersen scored two in three second-half minutes to put the result beyond doubt. Vincenzo Grifo added the gloss with a fifth just after the hour mark, with Eduard Löwen restoring a little pride for the visitors.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Werder Bremen 2-1 RB Leipzig

Claudio Pizarro, Werder Bremen’s 40-year-old striker, scored an 88th minute winner as Bremen beat Leipzig to end the season on a high. Milot Rashica’s 35th minute penalty set Bremen on their way to victory, only for Nordi Mukiele to score an equalizer four minutes from time. But Leipzig’s hopes of claiming a point were dashed two minutes later when Pizarro grabbed the decisive goal.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Mainz 4-2 Hoffenheim

Mainz scored two injury-time goals to beat 10-man Hoffenheim, who suffered a second-half collapse in Julian Nagelsmann’s final game in charge. Hoffenheim raced into a 2-0 lead, but Baumgartner’s 41st minute red card was pivotal. Brosinski’s penalty pulled one back then Mainz leveled through Jean-Paul Boetius. Boetius scored another in the final minute before Mateta finished the job in the 93rd.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-1 Hannover

Fortuna Düsseldorf claimed a 10th-place finish in the Bundesliga in their first season since gaining promotion thanks to a 2-1 win over relegated Hannover. After a goalless first half, Rouwen Hennings made the breakthrough and Kenan Karaman doubled the advantage four minutes later. Nicolai Müller gave Hannover hope late on, but it proved little more than a consolation.

Bundesliga roundup: Matchday 34

Schalke 0-0 Stuttgart

Schalke ended a deeply disappointing season with a lackluster goalless draw with Stuttgart, whose place in the relegation play-off was already decided. Schalke, who had their coach for next season David Wagner watching on again, finished in 14th, a noticeable 12 places lower than last season.

Author: Michael Da Silva