DORTMUND, (Germany): Bayern Munich were handed the Bundesliga champions for the ninth straight season Saturday, thanks to Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 win over second-placed RB Leipig.
England winger Jadon Sancho netted twice in Dortmund’s home win which crowned Bayern as champions without kicking a ball before their home game against Borussia Moenchengladbach later on Saturday.
Before they even kick off, Bayern have an unassailable 71 points to Leipzig’s 64.
“I don’t think anyone has ever become champions before while in the team bus on the way to the stadium!” Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic said in congratulating Bayern. Julian Nagelsmann, the 33-year-old coach who will leave RB Leipzig to take over at Bayern next season, offered a terse “congratulations on a deserved title” to his future employers.
The victory lifted Dortmund into the Champions League places, but Eintracht Frankfurt can knock them out of fourth place if they beat Mainz on Sunday.
Even without star striker Erling Braut Haaland, Dortmund were 2-0 up at the start of the second half thanks to goals from Marco Reus and Sancho.
Leipzig fought back with a Lukas Klostermann header before Dani Olmo equalised only for Sancho to grab the winner with superb footwork.
The clubs meet again on Thursday in the German Cup final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
“We showed a lot of morale, the game had absolutely nothing to do with the final in Berlin, but of course we want to win on Thursday too,” said goal-scorer Reus. Dortmund hope to have Haaland back from a thigh injury before the cup final and even with their top-scorer watching in the stands, the hosts still raced into the lead after only seven minutes.
Reus span out of Lukasz Piszczek’s pass, sprinted behind the defence and took a beautiful back-heeled ball from Thorgan Hazard before sweeping his shot past Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz did not come out for the second half after being injured colliding with his centre-back Manuel Akanji just before the break and was replaced by Roman Buerki.
Dortmund doubled their lead just six minutes after the break with a superb piece of skill from Sancho, who cut back inside after a Raphael Guerreiro pass and fired his shot in off the far post with superb accuracy.
The visitors pulled a goal back on 63 minutes when Emil Forsberg floated in a corner and Lukas Klostermann steered his header past Buerki.
Leipzig drew level when South Korea striker Hwang Hee-chan broke clear of Dortmund defender Mats Hummels and squared for Olmo who tapped home from close range. However, Sancho grabbed the winner when he flicked the ball to Guerreiro, took a return pass and tapped home to hand Bayern the title.
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