Borussia Dortmund gave the Bundesliga title to heated rivals Bayern Munich on a shocking final day in the Bundesliga, a stunning collapse that left a ready-to-party Westfalenstadion in mourners’ status.
Bayern took an early lead through Kingsley Coman at Koln and Dortmund went down 2-0 in the first half versus Mainz, missing a penalty that would’ve tied the score at 1.
Dortmund entered the day with the table lead and dominated Mainz to the tune of 26-7 in shots and 3.64-0.62 in expected goals, but Andreas Hanche-Olsen and Karim Onisiwo’s goals were enough as only Giovanni Reyna’s set-up of Raphael Guerreiro got Dortmund on the board in a 2-1 loss.
Koln briefly gave hope with a penalty equalizer in the 80th minute versus Bayern, but Jamal Musiala’s 89th-minute goal put the defending champions back in front.
Dortmund would’ve won the league by matching or bettering Bayern’s result and but Instead hand an 11th-straight Meisterschale to the Bavarians. No one has won more German top-flight titles than Bayern’s 33.
BVB remains on eight Bundesliga titles and remains one behind Nurnberg, which has not won since 1968.
MAINZ TAKE LEAD AT DORTMUND 🇩🇪 If results hold, Bayern win 11th straight German title. Bundesliga scriptwriters trying to one-up Premier League counterparts.pic.twitter.com/dXn5Ruk5If
Manchester City secured passage to the UEFA Champions League semifinals by way of a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich (4-1 victory on aggregate) at Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola’s side rode its 3-0 first-leg lead for nearly an hour before Erling Haaland added to it with his 48th goal of the season (all competitions, including 12 in UCL), setting up a sensational semifinal tie with Real Madrid (May 9/10 and 16/17).
Haaland had the tie at his feet, 12 yards from goal, after Dayot Upamecano handled the ball inside the penalty area, but he blasted his penalty kick well over the crossbar in the 37th minute. 20 minutes later, Haaland redeemed himself and put Upamecano on the wrong end of a moment that will live a long, long time on the Internet.
Kevin De Bruyne found Haaland in space and Upamecano was the only thing between him and goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Haaland ran at him, went one way, then the other, and Upamecano crumbled to the ground, not so dissimilar to Lionel Messi and Jerome Boateng’s famous tango a few years ago. Haaland raced by and rifled a left-footed blast past Sommer to put the tie to bed.
🔥¡Goooooool de Erling Haaland! 🔥¡Goooooool de Erling Haaland!
Video review revealed a handball offense by Manuel Akanji in the 81st minute, and Joshua Kimmich converted from the penalty spot to ruin the clean sheet on the day and over two legs.
Bayern’s fans know the chances of them reaching the Champions League semifinals are slim, very slim, but there is a chance they can blow teams away. Despite surprisingly sacking Julian Nagelsmann and having several key players out injured for spells, this is still Bayern Munich. This is still the Allianz Arena. They still have one of the best managers in Europe and one of the best squads. Is it impossible? No. The way Manchester City defended in the second half against Leicester proves they have spells where they can give up chances. Tuchel will be hoping Mane, Sane, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman and the returning Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting are clinical enough to take pretty much all of them.
As for City, this should be pretty straightforward. Should being the key word. They are absolutely flying right now with 10-straight wins in all competitions and Pep Guardiola has rotated his squad expertly but sometimes they like to make life harder for themselves than it should be. Erling Haaland is of course back in red-hot form and so are Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish as they’re creating chances galore. With Rodri holding down midfield and the new 3-2-4-1 formation confusing the heck out of opponents, Man City are the favorites to win the Champions League for a reason. They have reached their best form of the season at precisely the right time. It’s almost like they’ve been in this position several times before…
Bayern Munich team news, injuries, lineup options
OUT: Manuel Neuer (broken leg), Lucas Hernandez (knee)
MUNICH — Bayern Munich has dropped Sadio Mané from its squad for the team’s next game and will fine the Senegal forward following reports in German media that he struck teammate Leroy Sané after Tuesday’s Champions League loss to Manchester City.
“Sadio Mané, 31, will not be included in the FC Bayern squad for this Saturday’s home match against 1899 Hoffenheim. This is due to his misconduct after Bayern’s Champions League match at Manchester City. Mané will also be given a fine,” the club said in a brief statement Thursday. Bayern did not give further details of what happened.
The incident was first reported by German tabloid newspaper Bild and allegedly occurred in the locker room after the 3-0 loss to City in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. Bild reported that Mané had struck Sané in the face after an argument in the locker room, following an earlier disagreement on the field.
Mané and Sané both trained with the Bayern team Thursday and Mané was seen speaking with coach Thomas Tuchel.
Mané signed with Bayern in June from Liverpool, where he won the Premier League and Champions League. He has 11 goals in 32 games for Bayern across all competitions but hasn’t scored since a leg injury in November which forced the Senegal forward to miss the World Cup. In Tuchel’s four games since replacing Julian Nagelsmann as coach last month, Mané has started one and came off the bench in the other three.
Bayern’s next game is against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Manchester City took a commanding lead in their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie against Bayern Munich, as they thrashed the 10-time defending Bundesliga champions 3-0 at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Heavy rain and strong winds threatened to depress the quarterfinal rounds crown jewel of a tie, but the technical quality of each side was such that it was hardly noticeable to anyone not watching from inside the ground.
Manchester City’s first goal came in the 27th minute, when Bernardo Silva found Rodri with a cutting pass to top of the Bayern’s penalty area, and Rodri played his way around one defender before uncorking a left-footed curler just inside the far post from 24 yards out.
Typically the goal-scorer, Erling Haaland turned the provider for goal. no 2, as he surged into space down the left flank and floated an unseen cross to a late-arriving Bernardo Silva at the back post. Silva lined up his header and powered it past Yann Sommer for a 2-0 advantage.
🔥 ¡Gooooool del Cityyyyy! ¡Goool de Silva con asistencia de Haaland! 🔥
Six minutes later, Haaland returned to center stage as he tucked away the third goal and sent the Etihad into rapturous celebrations once again, for the 45th time this season (all competitions). John Stones headed a hopeful cross down and back across the face of goal for Haaland to run onto and hook home as if they were working on the training field this Tuesday evening.
If Manchester City are to finallyfinally win the UEFA Champions League this season, they will have done so by knocking off Bayern Munich and (likely) Real Madrid — pretty clearly the other two best teams in the world this season, ranked in any order you like — before even contesting the final. Impressive.
With the FA Cup and Premier League title also still to play for, Pep Guardiola’s side is 90 minutes closer to match Manchester United’s famous treble-winning season of 1998-99. They would also be the first club to win three straight PL titles since — you guessed it — Man United, from 2006 to 2009.
With nine games left to play in the Premier League, Manchester City trail Arsenal by six points but have not only a game in hand, but a head-to-head matchup still to come as well.
Stars of the show
Photo: FotMob.com
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich reaction
Pep Guardiola, on the performance and result…
“It really was a good Champions League game, and top teams. During 55, 60 minutes it was a tight game.”
…
“It’s an incredible result, but I know what it means to go to Munich and we have to do something new to not suffer so much the quality they have and we will try and do it.”
Rodri, on the result and his goal…
“It is a great result for us, but also the way the team played. The key for me today was the defensive side, it was great, and we understood how to punish them.
“It was very special for me to score my first goal in the Champions League. At that moment we were struggling because they are a great, great team. Sometimes we understand we cannot have 80 percent possession. They play, too. We scored three and could score four, but it is a great result.
Rodri, on the tie not being done…
“We don’t think it is done. They are a good team and we are happy with the performance, but we will have to try to win the game.”
What’s next?
Manchester City will be back at the Etihad on Saturday (12:30 pm ET) to host 19th-place Leicester in Premier League action, before heading to Germany for the second leg vs Bayern Munich next Wednesday (3 pm ET). Before Man City visit the Allianz Arena, Bayern will host Hoffenheim on Saturday (9:30 am ET).
City’s entire team is in superb form with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake dominating in defense, Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan running things from midfield and Jack Grealish has been in stunning form too. With Erling Haaland scoring twice at Southampton (City ran riot in a 4-1 win) on his return from a groin injury, Pep Guardiola’s side look hungry to surge towards the end of the season as they hunt down Arsenal for the Premier League title, are heavy favorites to reach the FA Cup final and are the favorites to win the Champions League too. Also, Phil Foden is City’s only injury absentee right now which has allowed Guardiola to rotate his squad masterfully.
Bayern have gone back to basics under Thomas Tuchel as they currently sit two points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund with seven games to go. They haven’t been at their fluid best for most of this campaign but now Mane is back for the run-in they should have an extra dimension to their play in attack. Tuchel led Chelsea to victory against Man City in the 2019-20 Champions League final and whoever advances in this quarterfinal will face the winner of Real Madrid vs Chelsea in the semifinals. It’s safe to say whoever advances from City vs Bayern will be favorites to become European champs.
Manchester City team news, injuries, lineup options
Managerial starts don’t get much better than Thomas Tuchel’s debut as Bayern Munich boss against former club and Bundesliga title rival Borussia Dortmund.
Thomas Muller scored twice as Bayern ran up a four-goal lead at home and outlasted a few defensive lapses in a 4-2 win that sent the Bavarians back atop the Bundesliga.
BVB is in pursuit of its first Meisterschale since the 2011-12 season, its eighth in history, and opened Saturday with a one point lead on its Klassiker rivals. That’s now a two-point deficit, and Bayern is now in the catbird seat in its bid to claimed an 11th-consecutive league crown.
Bayern still has to contend with the UEFA Champions League’s affecting their domestic chase — Man City’s up next in the quarterfinals — and there’s a German Cup quarterfinal against Freiburg on Tuesday, but Saturday was a huge signal to the rest of the Bundesliga.
Things might not be perfect in Bavaria, but there’s a new boss in town with a 1-0 record where it matters most: against Dortmund and atop the table.
How to watch Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 12:30pm ET, Saturday TV Channel/Online:Stream via ESPN+
Updates: Scoreboard, stats, more at Scoreboard.nbcsports.com
Key storylines & star players
Bayern’s all about controlling the game, and it does so with aplomb thanks to Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka. The side has pace for days and has also gotten monstrous amounts of creativity from Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala. There’s no Robert Lewandowski, but Bayern spreads the goals around through Musiala (11), Choupo-Moting (10), and Serge Gnabry (9). Manuel Neuer’s out, but the club’s quickly filled his space with Yann Sommer.
Dortmund slipped itself a couple of matches ago, a 2-2 draw in the Revierderby, but it bounded back with a 6-1 demolition of Koln. Bundesliga assist hero Raphael Guerreiro scored in that game while Sebastien Haller and Marco Reus both posted braces. Reus remains the heart of the club and has been a boon for Edin Terzic. A wild card is USMNT star Giovanni Reyna, who has posted terrific advanced stats in Bundesliga play but is still mainly just getting 15-20 minute cameos if he plays at all for BVB.
Bayern Munich team news, injuries, lineup options
OUT: Lucas Hernandez (ACL), Manuel Neuer (leg), Paul Wanner (adductor), Mathys Tel (muscular), Arijon Ibrahimovic (virus).
