Bayern Munich clinched another Bundesliga title on Sunday by easing to a 4-2 win over Stuttgart.
Harry Kane scored his league-leading 32nd goal of the season after going on as a second-half substitute, and Bayern should have scored more against the overwhelmed Stuttgart defense.
The win moved Bayern an unassailable 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund with four rounds of the German league remaining. Bayern only needed a point to be sure of the title after Dortmund’s defeat to Hoffenheim the day before.
It’s Bayern’s record-extending 35th German championship including the first for the club in 1932. Every other title came after the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963.
Stuttgart’s Chris Führich had riled the home team with the opener in the 21st minute, but Bayern’s Raphaël Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Alphonso Davies replied by scoring in a six-minute spell in the first half.
Spanish player Chema scored a spectacular second goal for Stuttgart in the 88th.
Restrained celebrations
Bayern’s players lined up in front of the fans, but there were none of the traditional beer showers that usually accompany league wins.
The Bundesliga is just the first in a potential treble of trophies for Bayern this season. The Bavarian powerhouse faces Bayer Leverkusen away for their German Cup semifinal on Wednesday, and then it has a two-legged Champions League semifinal tie against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.
The atmosphere was muted at the start of the game. There were reports of a clash between Bayern and Stuttgart fans before the match causing some to miss it altogether.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany rotated his squad with eight changes to the team that started against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Manuel Neuer, Kane, Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano and Aleksandar Pavlović on the bench.
Serge Gnabry was out with a thigh injury sustained in training the day before.
“Very unlucky, shooting a penalty or so,” Kompany said.
The 23-year-old Jamal Musiala became the second youngest Bayern player to reach 150 Bundesliga appearances after Uli Hoeneß, who was 11 days younger, according to stats provider Opta.
Musiala beat two defenders on the left before crossing for Guerreiro’s tap in in the 31st, then Luis Díaz unselfishly set up Nicolas Jackson for Bayern’s second after a mistake from Finn Jeltsch left three attackers facing one Stuttgart defender.
Alphonso Davies scored with a deflected shot four minutes later.
Kompany took Musiala and Díaz off at the break for Olise and Kane.
Kane’s goal – his 51st of the season across all competitions for Bayern – stretched the team’s Bundesliga record for goals in a season to 109. The previous record, set by Bayern’s 1971-72 team featuring Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller, was 101 goals.
“It’s very special,” midfielder Joshua Kimmich said. “I mean, especially this season, it’s a very, very good Bundesliga season, including today’s game. It’s not a given that you come here after the games against Madrid and then play a game like this.”
Other results
Two deflected shots gave Europa League semifinalist Freiburg a 2-1 win over last-placed Heidenheim earlier.
Johan Manzambi scored with a deflected shot in the first half and Maximilian Eggestein netted the late winner with another deflection after Budu Zivzivadze had given the visitors hope with a brilliant strike into the top left corner in the 59th minute.
Defeat ended Heidenheim’s three-game unbeaten run and left it seven points behind St. Pauli and the relegation playoff place with four rounds of the league remaining. Heidenheim hosts St. Pauli next weekend.
Freiburg reached the Europa League semifinals with a 3-1 win at Celta Vigo on Thursday. It faces Sporting Braga away in the first leg on April 30.
Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted Mainz later Sunday.
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