German giants Bayern Munich win their 27th league title, and their fifth in a row
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Hello, and welcome back to The Corner.
In that part of the world they call it “Deutscher Meister”: German Champion.
Deutscher Meister 2017! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
! pic.twitter.com/HVmDgiqTuy
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) April 29, 2017
It’s the title the same club has held for five consecutive years.
Of course, we’re talking about Bayern Munich, who thanks to the avalanche of goals they scored against Wolfsburg in the Volkswagen Arena, confirmed the triumph with three match-days to go.
Let’s see what happened in the 90 minutes which crowned the Bavarians.
Captained by club legend Philip Lahm, Bayern crushed Wolfsburg 6-0 to open up an unassailable 10-point lead in the Bundesliga.
Was für ein Spiel, um die fünfte Meisterschaft in Folge einzufahren. Ein großes Lob an den gesamten
FCBayern</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mia5anMia?src=hash">#Mia5anMia</a> <a href="https://t.co/HSENZoOCsg">pic.twitter.com/HSENZoOCsg</a></p>— Philipp Lahm (philipplahm) April 29, 2017
Now with 27 German championships, the Bavarians are on 73 points, with Leipzig on 63.
Bundesliga leading scorer Robert Lewandowski netted twice to take his league tally to 28 and David Alaba, Thomas Mueller, Arjen Robben and Joshua Kimmich were also on target as Bayern rode roughshod over their hosts.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team bounced back in emphatic style following a disappointing period by their high standards: a mid-week German Cup semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund and last week’s Champions League exit to Real Madrid.
.
MrAncelotti</a>: "Ich bin froh, ein Teil dieser Bayern-Familie zu sein!"<br><br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/6aBWB79MCq">https://t.co/6aBWB79MCq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mia5anMia?src=hash">#Mia5anMia</a> <a href="https://t.co/wxwTrxRavC">pic.twitter.com/wxwTrxRavC</a></p>— FC Bayern München (FCBayern) April 30, 2017
But there was no self-doubt on Saturday as they scored three times in each half.
UP & DOWN
The Bundesliga season is not over yet, but we can already draw conclusions for some of the protagonists.
Who are we speaking about? Let’s find it out:
First UP is Carlo Ancelotti – having won the league in his first season in charge of Bayern, he becomes the first manager to win titles in four of the five major competitions in Europe: Italy, England, France and Germany.
Also UP are RB Leipzig – despite not winning the title, they have had a great season in their first appearance in the Bundesliga. They are second at the moment, and sure to take part next season in the Champions League.
It’s looking DOWN for Bayer Leverkusen, who were eliminated in the Champions League’s round of 16 by Atletico Madrid, and are not doing better in the Bundesliga, currently 12th in the standings with 36 points.
WE MIGHT BE WRONG
Step by step we’re getting closer to the much-anticipated Champions League final, which is going to be held in Cardiff in a month’s time.
We don’t know which two clubs will battle it out for the cup on June 3, but we could get an idea this week after the first legs of the semi-finals.
What are your predictions for the Madrid derby and the clash between Monaco and Juventus?
Here are ours:
We’re backing Real Madrid to beat their local rivals Atlético by two goals to one at the Bernabéu on Tuesday.
And following their domination of Barcelona in the quarter-finals, we are predicting Juventus to get an away goal in Monaco, to draw Wednesday’s tie one-all.
BASEL CHAMPIONS
And finally, last weekend wasn’t just a party for Bayern in Europe.
Indeed, Basel mathematically assured the Swiss title for the 8th consecutive season and the 20th of their history.
A 2-1 win in Lucerne on the 30th match-day allowed them to celebrate.
Die Meisternacht auf dem Barfi
⭐️⭐️ #FCBasel #GlaubetNitAnGaischter pic.twitter.com/a7xmpKVJeP
— FC Basel 1893 (@FC_Basel) April 29, 2017
Here’s how their supporters celebrated in the Swiss city’s streets, in honour of their ‘‘Meister’‘.
The Corner is back as usual next Monday. Don’t miss it!