For a ninth straight season, Bayern Munich is the king of the Bundesliga.
Bayern polished off its latest German league title with time to spare thanks to second-place RB Leipzig’s 3–2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, which preceded Bayern’s match vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach later in the day.
Lost in the shuffle of the Super League’s collapse were the on-field results the day it fell apart, which effectively wrapped up the title for Bayern. Leipzig’s loss to Köln coupled with Bayern’s win over Bayer Leverkusen sent the champions 10 points clear with four games to go. Even with Bayern’s surprise defeat to Mainz on April 24, the maximum points Leipzig can achieve is 70 with two games to play, while Bayern was already sitting safely at 71 before Saturday’s match.
Bayern’s run to the title was led yet again by Robert Lewandowski, who still has hopes of setting the Bundesliga single-season scoring record despite being sidelined recently with a knee injury. Gerd Müller’s mark of 40 goals in 1971–72 seemed like a certainty to be broken before Lewandowski was injured on international duty with Poland in late March. He was on 35 goals at the time and missed four Bayern matches to thwart his sizzling pace, but he scored a consolation goal in his return vs. Mainz to pull within four of the record.
Regardless, Bayern went 3-0-1 in his absence and nearly outlasted PSG in the Champions League quarterfinals, only to go out on the away-goals tiebreaker to end its European title defense. Lewandowski is still on track to be the Bundesliga’s leading scorer for the fourth straight season and sixth time in the last eight seasons.
Despite having another Bundesliga trophy in the silverware case at Allianz Arena, it’s shaping up to be a summer of change for Bayern, where RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann will replace Hansi Flick on the sidelines. Flick had been open about his desire to leave and has been connected heavily to the soon-to-be vacant Germany national team job. Flick, a former Germany assistant coach who reportedly clashed with sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić, led Bayern to a sextuple prior to this season’s league title, with Bayern winning the Champions League, Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, German Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles after he took over from Niko Kovač in November 2019.
Beyond the manager role, veterans David Alaba and Jérôme Boateng are out of contract at the end of the season, with Alaba reportedly headed to Real Madrid on a free transfer and Boateng’s deal not being extended. Javi Martínez, meanwhile, is another longtime Bayern star whose exit has been confirmed. Their void in defense will be filled in large part by Dayot Upamecano, with the 22-year-old French center back already set to arrive from RB Leipzig in July following the triggering of his $51 million (€42 million) release clause.
“Dayot will be a very important building block for our team in the coming years. We’re convinced of that,” Salihamidžić said at the time of the transaction in February.
With Upamecano in the fold and Bayern’s core of Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka and Kingsley Coman remaining in place, the club will be the overwhelming favorite to make it an even 10 straight titles next season, no matter the changes circulating elsewhere.
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