Bayern Munich clinched the Bundesliga title on Saturday, breaking several records along the way.
Even for a club with such an illustrious history, this will go down as a week to remember for the Bavarian outfit. In midweek they took a big step in the direction of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, by beating Italian giants Juventus 2-0 in the first leg. That came just four days after they slaughtered Hamburg 9-2, to move within touching distance of the Bundesliga crown.
And they wrapped up a record-extending 23rd title on Saturday afternoon, when a Bastian Schweinsteiger goal on 52 minutes proved sufficient to beat Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank-Arena. It was their 11th successive win since the competition resumed on 19 January following the winter break, which is the longest winning sequence in German top-flight history.
With six games still to play, this is the earliest stage of any campaign in which the destination of the title has been settled. Having led the table from week one, this is the fifth time a team have led the standings throughout an entire season – no other club have even done it once. And 67-year-old Jupp Heynckes, who will make way for Pep Guardiola in the summer, became the oldest coach to win the Bundesliga.
“The fact that we have won the title after 28 games is extraordinary,” Heynckes said. “One of the things FC Bayern have demonstrated this season is that we’re a top side, but we have done it with harmony in the team. We can be confident we will achieve something in the Champions League.”
A week on Tuesday Bayern will take on Wolfsburg in the semi-final of the DFB Cup, but before then, they have the small matter of a trip to Turin to take on Juve in that Champions League quarter-final second leg. Like the Allianz Arena club, the Bianconeri have largely been in control of their domestic league this season, and are currently 12 points clear with seven matches remaining, although Napoli will hope to reduce this gap when they welcome Genoa on Sunday.
