EIGHT in a row! Bayern clinch title with Werder win

FC Bayern clinched their eighth successive Bundesliga title thanks to a 1-0 win at Werder Bremen on Tuesday evening, their 14th consecutive victory in all competitions. In a hard-fought contest in wet conditions, Robert Lewandowski’s brilliant goal shortly before the interval was enough for Bayern, who ended the game with 10 men after Alphonso Davies’ sending off.

Hansi Flick made four changes to his starting line-up after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Thomas Müller and Lewandowski returned to spearhead the attack after serving one-match bans at the weekend, while Davies and Kingsley Coman were reinstated on the left side. Javi Martínez and Ivan Perišić both missed out due to illness, so reserve player Chris Richards was included in the first-team squad for the first time among a youthful substitutes’ bench.

Lewy breaks deadlock

Bayern’s intent was clear from the start, although they struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities against what was effectively a five-man Bremen backline. The two times FCB did come close to finding the net – when Serge Gnabry narrowly missed Davies’ square ball across the face of goal and Joshua Kimmich hit the bar – would not have counted anyway due to offside flags.

The hosts, who themselves were desperate for the three points in their battle against the drop, also had their moments. Maximilian Eggestein fired just wide from outside the area, while Theodor Gebre Selassie struck the side-netting at the far post. Heavy rain made conditions difficult towards the end of the first half, but that didn’t prevent the Reds breaking the deadlock shortly before the break. Lewandowski made a perfectly timed run to latch onto an exquisite ball over the top from Jérôme Boateng, which the Pole chested down brilliantly before volleying in his 31st Bundesliga goal of the campaign.

Bayern survive late pressure

Flick’s men remained in control after the break and Lewandowski actually put the ball in the back of the net again in the 55th minute, but it was ruled out for offside. The vast majority of the play was taking place in the Werder half, with the hosts seemingly content to limit the damage and the Bayern defence dealing with whatever did come their way.

The contest did open up towards the end of the game and Bremen were given some help when Davies was shown his second yellow card for blocking the run of Miloš Veljković. But the visitors responded by almost getting the killer second goal, Coman turning his man inside out and then firing off a powerful shot which was blocked by Jiri Pavlenka.

Werder boss Florian Kohfeldt threw on attacking reinforcements in the closing stages and there was a scare when Josh Sargent’s volley was blocked from close range. Manuel Neuer – who had barely anything to do all game – then made an excellent save from Yuya Osako’s header, but Bayern held on to seal the title with two games to spare.