Leaders go unpunished for late lapse

Daniel van Buyten left the Commerzbank Arena with a black eye after Bayern’s unlooked-for 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Fortunately, the centre-back suffered no serious damage in the collision which caused the shiner. Like the Belgian defender, Munich too were beaten but fundamentally unharmed by events on the 27th round of matches in the Bundesliga.

Neither third-placed Bayer Leverkusen nor Schalke in second was able to take full advantage of FCB’s slip-up. Bayer lost 3-0 to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening, and Schalke were held 2-2 in Hamburg on Sunday afternoon, meaning only minimal changes to the standings. Bayern contrived to lose but stay top of the table, still three points clear of Bayer but now only a single point ahead of Schalke.