Bundesliga’s oldest team, Weder Bremen, completed the first part of what could be a great escape as they leap-frogged Fortuna Dusseldorf into the relegation play-off position after smashing Cologne 6-1.
The rest of the day’s action saw Borussia Munchengladbach beat Bayer Leverkusen to the coveted final Champions League spot. Borussia Dortmund were hammered 4-0 at home to Hoffenheim securing the Seinsheimers automatic entry into next season’s Uefa Cup. Timo Werner scored a brace in his final game for RB Leipzig before moving to the English Premier League, and Bayern put four past Wolfsburg taking their tally to 100 goals scored in a single campaign.
The fifty-seventh Bundesliga will mainly be remembered as the season that was almost obliterated by the coronavirus pandemic, but after a three month hiatus which saw everyone ordered to remain indoors and wait for infection rates across Europe to drop football carried on and Germany’s top flight was able to come to a conclusion.
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The Great Escape part 1
Weder Bremen were second from bottom coming into the final round of games with one win in their last six, conceding ten goals and having zero clean sheets. To put some context on the significance of Bremen’s position, the club is one of the founders of Bundesliga, are the second most successful team in the league’s history (Bayern Munich are first) and have won the championship four times, the last being in 2003/04.
Bremen saved their legacy with a stunning 6-1 win over Cologne, whilst Dusseldorf, who occupied the play-off position before the start of today’s games and needed just a draw to have a chance of remaining in Bundesliga, limped to 3-0 loss at Union Berlin.
Weder Bremen captain Niklas Moisander said it was a relief to win but the campaign is not over for Bremen.
Moisander said: “Today was do or die. We did it but it doesn’t mean a thing yet. We need to finish the job in the two games.”
Union Berlin defender Kaan Ayhan said he felt Dusseldorf hadn’t played like a team that deserves to be relegated.
Ayhan said: “We haven’t played like a relegated team in recent weeks nor before the corona break. It feels unfair right now but that’s how life is sometimes.”
Bremen’s escape sets up a potentially mouth watering play-off tie between themselves and arch-rivals Hamburg, who currently sit fourth in Bundesliga 2 with the final round of fixtures in Germany’s second tier being played tomorrow.
Champions League goes to the Foals
The final Champions League spot was also up for grabs between high-flying Borussia Monchengladbach and 2001/02 Hampden finalists Bayer Leverkusen. The Foals beat Leverkusen to fourth spot and a coveted position in Europe’s premier competition beating Hertha Berlin 2-1.
Leverkusen produced a workmanlike 1-0 victory over Mainz in what could be star midfielder Kai Havertz last game for the club with rumours suggesting Chelsea are on the brink of sealing an £80m transfer for the German wonderkid.
Speaking of wonderkids, Borussia Dortmund’s fledging attackers Jadon Sancho, Giovanni Reyna and Erling Braut-Haaland could do nothing as the Black-Yellows’ season ended on a whimper with a 4-0 hammering at home to Hoffenheim. The result will heap more pressure on head-coach Lucien Favre with the board at the Westfalenstadion unsure if the sixty-two-year-old Swiss is the right man to take the club and its wealth of attacking talent forward.
Brilliant Bayern
Bayern Munich continued to flourish under Hansi Flick capping their season off with a routine 4-0 win over Wolfsburg.
Bayern have been imperious since Flick took over after the mid-season sacking of Niko Kovac.
The 2019/20 campaign has seen star forward Robert Lewandowski flourish in his prime at the age of thirty-one. The Polish talisman has had his most prolific season for Bayern scoring 42 goals in 50 games and was overwhelmingly voted Bundesliga player of the season.
Timo Werner closed the curtain on his Bundesliga career in style with two goals including an eightieth minute winner against Augsburg. The German striker moves to Chelsea in July in a £53m deal ending seven seasons in Bundesliga.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 