Berlin (AP) – Bayern Munich assured the Bundesliga title without playing on Sunday, successfully recovering from his first season without trophies since 2012.
Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw ended with the mathematical possibility of the defending champion of reaching Bayern, who has an unattainable advantage of eight points with two remaining rounds.
The Bayern extended his record with his 34th German title. Apart from the first in 1932, when the title was decided by regional champions playing a direct elimination competition, everyone else arrived after the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.
Leverkusen’s triumph last year ended with Bayern’s 11 -year reign, but the powerful Bavarian team recovered this season thanks in part to the new coach Vincent Kompany, the English striker Harry Kane, and Leverkusen’s inability to replicate his best season.
Here is a closer look at the reasons for Bayern’s resurgence:
I remember Kane
This was the season in which Bayern finally left behind Robert Lewandowski. Almost three years after the Polish striker went to Barcelona, Bayern feels like Kane’s team.
Lewandowski’s former teammates, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Come, no longer accumulate goals and assists as before, and the 35 -year -old player Thomas Müller is largely a bank player. On the other hand, Jamal Musiala has developed in a strong offensive threat with 12 goals in the Bundesliga in a season limited by injuries.
The first season of Michael Olise since he signed with Crystal Palace brought ten goals and 17 assists only in the Bundesliga, making him one of Bayern’s key players. And Kane himself has scored about 24 goals.
Kompany training
Although far from being the first option, Vincent Kompany has proven to be just what Bayern needed after the turbulent stage of Thomas Tuchel as coach.
Bayern tried to snatch Xabi Alonso to Leverkusen, Julian Nagelsmann from the German Selection of Austria Rangnick to take care, and even tried to convince Tuchel to stay after everything.
Kompany was a surprise choice after the Burnley died in the Premier League after taking the team to the previous season, but it has turned out to be an inspired choice.
The sports director Christoph Freund praised the calm way of the Belgian, his clear communication and his focus to reach the players.
The club has ended the drama that overshadowed the recent seasons. The days of discontent of the players are over, a coach looking for a mole in the locker room, a star player allegedly hitting a teammate and the club prohibiting their own executive director participating in the celebrations of the title.
template risks
Kompany has worked hard with his players and has come out with his. Kane is still the most expensive signing of Bayern and has a salary reported around 25 million euros (28, four million dollars). That means that Bayern has to monitor his expenses in other places and the template has seemed a bit scarce in some places.
The central defenders of First Choice Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae have accumulated matches. The South Korean coach and the FIFPRO players union expressed concerns that Kim was being overloaded despite repeated problems in the Achilles tendon, and Upamecano and the left side Alphonso Davies suffered long -term injuries in the international duty last month.
Despite a thin template and overloaded players, it was enough for Bayern to achieve the title.
Leverkusen decline
Passing a whole season of the undefeated bundesliga was not precedent. It was almost inevitable that this season would see a decline.
Leverkusen lost at home against Leipzig in his second Bundesliga match this season and let too many points for a defense of the title.
Even so, Xabi Alonso’s team has remained difficult to overcome this season, with only two losses, but his 11 draws were too many.
Leverkusen failed to capitalize when Bayern stumbled, losing to Werder Bremen and the surprise of Bochum in March. The draws with the union of Berlin and St. Pauli in April allowed Bayern to go out with his with a draw in Borussia Dortmund and then increase his advantage.
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Ellingworth contributed from Düsseldorf.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
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