BVB flashes in the top game
FC Bayern wins tenth Bundesliga championship in a row
4/23/2022, 8:24 p.m
What has been true since 2013 will not change in 2022 either: FC Bayern is the best team in the Bundesliga. On the 31st day of the game, the tenth championship in a row is certain because second-placed Dortmund cannot prevent defeat.
FC Bayern is German champion for the tenth time in a row, the Bundesliga remains firmly in Munich hands. With a never seriously endangered 3:1 (2:0) against favorite guest Borussia Dortmund, the record champion secures the title on matchday 31 of the 2021/22 season. BVB started the game with commitment, but Serge Gnabry (15th minute) and Robert Lewandowski (34th) quickly provided clarity – although the only question was when exactly the 32nd championship in the club’s history on Säbener Straße would be applauded may be. The “if” seems to have long since been clearly decided, also with a view to the next few years. The penalty kick converted by Emre Can (52nd) caused a bit of excitement – but it would be quite an exaggeration to say that FC Bayern faltered. Jamal Musiala (83rd) then made the final score.
Ten championship titles in a row are unmatched in the European top divisions England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. With nine successes in a row, Bayern have held the record together with the Italian representative Juventus Turin. In the other leagues, the streaks are far shorter. Olympique Lyon secured seven consecutive championships between 2002 and 2008, Spain’s record is five and England’s only three.
Bayern, who have long since surpassed the Bundesliga competition, are now on their way to the European record set by Latvian representative Skonto Riga and Lincoln Red Imps FC from Gibraltar. They were unstoppable in 14 seasons between 1991 and 2004 (Riga) and 2003 to 2016 (Lincoln). The Munich team is already tied with BFC Dynamo, which was celebrated ten times in a row as the favorite club of state security chief Erich Mielke in the GDR between 1979 and 1988.
Self-esteem scratched in Munich
After Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Niko Kovac and Hansi Flick, the 34-year-old coach Julian Nagelsmann is the fifth coach in this most successful decade in the club’s history. In addition to the ten Bundesliga titles, this also brought two successes in the Champions League, two in the Club World Cup and five in the DFB Cup. However, the joy of the record champions is not unclouded. The early end of the DFB Cup after a 0:5 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the second round and the surprising but deserved defeat against FC Villarreal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League eroded Bavarian self-esteem.
The week before the historic tenth title was marked by unrest on Säbener Straße. In the first year after the departure of the CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and former stars of the club, they fired their statements. Lothar Matthäus questioned sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, Didi Hamann speculated about a divided grandstand that was annoyed by faltering contract negotiations. But that faded into the background on Saturday evening in the Allianz Arena. As in every game since Dortmund’s last win in Munich in April 2014, BVB had nothing to gain in the league.
With 75 points now and a twelve-point lead over “followers” BVB, Nagelsmann’s first season in the league will be a thoroughly successful one. After peaking at 91 and 90 points in Guardiola’s early years, FC Bayern Munich has clocked up around 80 points in recent years. With three games still to play, the maximum in Nagelsmann’s first year is a possible 84.
Last title for Lewandowski?
The average lead over the respective runners-up was 14.2 points in the past nine seasons. Only once in the 2018/2019 season was BVB able to keep the gap in single digits and keep the championship open until the last matchday. With “only” 78 points in the Kovac year, the Munich team stumbled across the finish line with a lead of only two points, which was also due to a weak phase in Dortmund.
The central figures in Bayern’s dominance include captain Manuel Neuer and club icon Thomas Müller. The two Rio world champions are now celebrating their tenth consecutive title together. On the wings, players like Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry have long since replaced the influential figures Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, and in midfield Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich now dominate and no longer Philipp Lahm or Bastian Schweinsteiger.
For the Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski it is the eighth title in a row. He spent the first two years in the ranks of Borussia Dortmund. For the 33-year-old, however, it could be the last German championship of his career. The striker has been flirting offensively with a departure for weeks. If FC Bayern wants to get even closer to Skonto Riga and Lincoln Red Imps FC, they may have to replace this central figure in Bayern’s game.