Dortmund sensationally collapsed on the final day when everyone had expected them to win the league by drawing at home to Mainz. Bayern Munich capitalised on that to win the Bundesliga for an 11th straight season.
Dortmund had a two-point lead over Bayern going into the decisive match on Saturday, but Edin Terzic’s team was shocked in a 2-2 draw after a dismal first half that saw Mainz go up two goals and attacker Sebastian Haller miss a penalty.
Kingsley Coman’s early goal for Bayern in Cologne gave them the lead after just 10 minutes of play. The title was already going to Dortmund when Cologne player Dejan Ljubicic’s late penalty appeared to add additional late drama.
Jamal Musiala, a forward for Bayern, scored in 89 minutes to secure a spectacular 2-1 victory. Niklas Sule’s injury-time goal for Dortmund gave them a chance to tie the score, but with only seconds left, Bayern had won the German top division for the 33rd time.
The German club has had a difficult season as they have changed managers multiple times, but Thomas Tuchel’s arrival in March allowed Bayern to continue their decade-long domination by leading them to yet another league victory.
It became more likely throughout the second half of the season that the club’s era of dominance would come to an end. It became more likely throughout the second half of the season that the club’s era of dominance would come to an end.
On March 24, Bayern fired manager Julian Nagelsmann and hired Tuchel in his place. Bayern was involved in both the Champions League and a title fight with Dortmund and RB Leipzig at that point in the season.
But after losing to Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the European competition, Tuchel was left to concentrate solely on the league as Freiburg eliminated them from the DFB-Pokal.
Bayern has also experienced a string of off-field incidents this season, including the fracture of veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s leg while skiing in December following the World Cup and the fallout from Toni Tapalovic’s departure as goalkeeping coach in January.
A shocking 3-1 home loss to RB Leipzig in the season’s penultimate match delivered Tuchel’s team a serious setback to their title chances, giving Dortmund a two-point lead going into the final day.
Bayern was able to secure the championship in the closing few minutes of the season and maintain their dominance of German football, though, as Dortmund buckled under the pressure on Saturday.
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