Thanks to noble joker Jamal Musiala, FC Bayern took advantage of Borussia Dortmund’s fatal blunder and secured their eleventh consecutive title in the Bundesliga on the home straight.
Coach Thomas Tuchel’s team won 2-1 (1-0) at 1. FC Köln through Musiala’s goal in the 89th minute and snatched away the rivals from Dortmund, who, as table leaders and big favorites, only played 2-2 against Mainz 05. the champion trophy that was believed to be so certain.
The starting position before this final was clear: Bayern no longer had their fate in the title race in their hands, in order to be able to endanger BVB, who were two points ahead of them, BVB had to win and slip up.
Kingsley Coman (8th) had presented early, Dejan Ljubicic (81st) with a hand penalty caused by Serge Gnabry temporarily put Munich in shock – Musiala, who had been substituted four minutes earlier, then ensured the emotional happy ending of a season that had been completely screwed up until then.
In the final spurt, Bayern prevented their first untitled season in eleven years – but there was still a lot of talk at the supervisory board meeting on Tuesday. In particular, CEO Oliver Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic are heavily criticized. The media have already brought the previous CFO Jan-Christian Dreesen into play as a possible successor to Kahn. Kahn himself was not in Cologne on Saturday, officially because of a cold.
Despite all the speculation and background noise, Bayern started their grand finale with focus. Thomas Müller won the ball at his own corner flag and played it to Leroy Sane. Coman used his pass with a shot in the corner.
FC Bayern Munich uses BVB mistakes
The Cologne team didn’t let that spoil their mood: their relegation was already certain and they said goodbye to their captain Jonas Hector (end of career) and Timo Horn (contract expiring), who has meanwhile been demoted to number two. Before kick-off, a small plane flew over the arena with a banner in Hector’s honor.
The FC played happily and looked for the way forward. In the few moments when the guests picked up the pace, Cologne had problems: Müller (19th) hit the post – but there was hardly any sign of Bayern’s dominance. The away fans cheered nonetheless: the Mainz lead was celebrated, as was Leroy Sane’s supposed 2-0 lead (45′), which didn’t count because of a handball.
With the lead behind them, Bayern avoided risk and relied on control through possession. Under pressure from Cologne, however, they repeatedly made bad passes and inaccuracies. Yann Sommer saved a header from Ljubicic brilliantly (60′), Salihamidzic paced back and forth in the honorary stand.
Cologne put on a power play at times and constricted Bayern in their half – Coman and Co. missed the few relief attacks miserably before Musiala scored Bayern Munich’s luck after the equaliser.
1. FC Cologne – Bayern Munich: The data for the game
