Corentin Tolisso danced with the Meisterschale in his hands, Alphonso Davies was also reluctant to give up the object of desire, and top scorer Robert Lewandowski also showed off his moves on the dance floor. Just a few hours after Bayern beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the final match of the season to secure their seventh German championship in a row, the record champions' players, coaches and officials exuberantly celebrated winning the title.
After the official championship ceremony in the sold-out Allianz Arena and the obligatory Weißbier showers, the team went to the club championship party at the Nockherberg, where the newly-crowned champions first appeared on the balcony to around 2,000 fans who were already waiting for their idols in the Paulaner beer garden. To the sound of "Stern des Südens" the Meisterschale and Lewandowski's top scorer trophy were shown off.
"It's been without question an emotional season," chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said a little later during his speech in the festively decorated ballroom. Rummenigge described the earlier match against Frankfurt as "highly emotional. If you had written a script today, you could have filmed it in Hollywood." But in the end, everyone was happy. "If you become German champions on Matchday 34, everyone can be satisfied. It doesn’t get any better than this."
"It was important that we believed we had the motivation and the right attitude for the second half of the season. We demonstrated it consistently. We put the first half of the season behind us and looked ahead. We gave it everything, our absolute all. Now we have the Meisterschale and want to win the cup next week," was the short summary from captain Manuel Neuer, who unfortunately missed the last game of the season after his calf injury.
In his speech Rummenigge thanked all those who contributed to winning the 29th championship, especially coach Niko Kovac. "That was your first season, and when you become German champion it's à la bonheur, congratulations on that." And, of course, Rummenigge also found the right words for the outgoing trio of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribéry and Rafinha, who were bid farewell in the Allianz Arena that afternoon. "I think, today, in the stadium, I experienced the most emotional thing I have ever experienced at Bayern Munich," Rummenigge admitted.
A day full of joy, emotion and sentimentality
The chairman described Rafinha's move to Munich in the summer of 2011 as a "great transfer. Every coach, every member of the team said he was the most important man in the dressing room." Rummenigge dubbed Ribéry and Robben "the best wide men in Europe in the last ten years." Robben had already been "chomping at the bit all week long" for the season finale. And right from his first match in 2007, Ribéry was "the hero of the Allianz Arena. He has remained that to this day. I think the Franck Ribery/Bayern Munich connection will never end."
And so ended a day full of emotion, full of joy about the most exciting title race in ten years. And full of sentimentality too about the upcoming farewell to three influential players in an exuberant champions' party filled with music and dancing, which lasted well into the small hours. Kovac won't gather his team around him again till Tuesday, to start preparations for the cup final against RB Leipzig. "We'll be fully focused again next week. We want the double," he declared.
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