It was official when Philipp Lahm hoisted the shield into the Munich sky on Saturday at 17.41 CET: FC Bayern are German champions for the 26th time! Munich sealed their fourth Bundesliga title in a row, an unprecedented achievement since the foundation of the league in 1963. Lahm celebrated his seventh title, whereas it was a first for five men in the FCB squad.
It was Joshua Kimmich's very first championship title. The 21-year-old joined the Bavarians from second division RB Leipzig last summer and made 35 appearances in competitive fixtures in his first season at Bayern. “Super,” the all-rounder commented on his debut: “The first title is always the most beautiful one. It may be even more exciting for me than for others who celebrated their fifth title,” added Kimmich.
Four Italian titles for Vidal
Kingsley Coman laid his hands on the shield for the first time, but it was by no means the first title for the 19-year-old France international. He won the French league with Paris St. Germain in 2013 and 2014 before winning the Italian Serie A with Juventus. “It's very nice and hopefully the beginning of a very big story,” Coman said.
Speaking of Juventus, four championship titles in a row are nothing new to Arturo Vidal. The Chilean won the Scudetto with I Bianconeri four consecutive times between 2012 and 2015 before joining Bayern. He had already won three titles with CSD Colo-Colo in his home country before coming to Europe. Now the Warrior has his first triumph in Germany.
Five for Costa
Douglas Costa has won no fewer than five championship titles with Shakhtar Donetsk. This season's Europa League semi-finalists prevailed in the Ukrainian league between 2010 and 2014. Costa scored 24 goals in 128 matches for the Ukrainians, whereas he netted four times in 27 matches in his first season in Munich.
Milos Pantovic also celebrated his first championship title. The FC Bayern II forward made his Bundesliga debut on Matchday 9, when the 19-year-old was brought on shortly before the final whistle in the 1-0 victory over Bremen. This appearance earned Pantovic a 2016 German championship winner’s medal.
Topics of this article