1-0 win over Eintracht enough to secure record breaking Bundesliga title.
Bayern Munich set the record for the earliest Bundesliga title win on Saturday when they were confirmed as German champions for the 23rd time with a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the decisive goal to give Bayern their 24th win from 28 league games this season and seal their first major silverware since May 2010.
“We’re a strong team with a great coach, it’s fantastic to have won the title,” said goal-scorer Schweinsteiger.
With Bayern facing Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League quarter-final leading 2-0 from the first leg, the win came despite coach Jupp Heynckes resting several key players.
“The fact that we have won the title after 28 games is extraordinary, it’s simply fantastic,” said Heynckes, having been hoisted into the air by his team after the final whistle.
“One of the things FC Bayern have demonstrated this season is that we’re a top side, but we have done it with harmony in the team.
“We can be confident we will achieve something in the Champions League.”
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund — champions in each of the last two seasons — won 4-2 at home to Augsburg, but could not prevent Bayern from setting a Bundesliga record for the earliest confirmed title win.
“I have no problem congratulating Bayern, they have had an outstanding season,” said Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin.
Frankfurt coach Armin Veh was equally gratious.
“I don’t begrudge Heynckes the title at all,” said Veh, whose team remain fifth in the league for now.
“For me, he is a great role model and I hope that Bayern win more titles.”
With six games left, Munich have an unsurmountable 20-point lead and have won their 22nd Bundesliga title.
It is their 23rd national title overall, with the Munich club also winning the old-style German championship in 1932.
Following a frantic start, Bayern defender David Alaba missed a 26th-minute penalty when he fired wide after Thomas Mueller was brought down in the area, but Schweinsteiger’s second-half back-heel flick gave them three more points.
With Bayern pushing forward, captain Philipp Lahm fired in a pass for his deputy to delicately flick a shot past Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov with his heel on 52 minutes for the decisive goal.
Dortmund host Malaga in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg with all to play for after the first leg finished 0-0, and Juergen Klopp’s side had to come from behind to beat Augsburg at the Signal Iduna Park.
Goalkeeper Roman Wiedenfeller, striker Robert Lewandowski, captain Sebastian Kehl and star attacking duo Mario Goetze and Marco Reus were all left out of the starting line-up.
Jonas Hofmann, 20, made his Bundesliga debut while Leonardo Bittencourt, 19, started for the first time in the league as the pair were both promoted to the midfield, and striker Julian Schieber also made a rare appearance.
Schieber needed just 22 minutes to rifle home Dotmund’s opening goal against Ausgburg, who are locked in a battle with Hoffenheim — 3-0 winners against Duesseldorf on Friday — to avoid automatic relegation.
Augsburg went ahead with two goals in 80 seconds just before the half-time break, but Klopp responded by bringing on Lewandowski and Goetze early in the second half.
The changes had an immediate impact, as Lewandowski put Hofmann away on the right wing to square for Schieber to equalise with his second of the day on 52 minutes.
The Poland star then netted in the 92nd minute to extend the club record of having scored in his last 10 league games.
By doing so, he equals Klaus Allofs’ overall Bundesliga record, set in 1984.
Bayer Leverkusen remain third after their 1-1 draw at home to Wolfsburg while Schalke hold fourth after their 2-0 win at Werder Bremen and Moenchengladbach moved up to sixth with a 1-0 win at home to bottom side Fuerth.
Hamburg have the chance to get back amongst the top six — and the European places — when they host Freiburg on Saturday night while Nuremberg are at home to Mainz and Hanover host Stuttgart on Sunday.
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