GERMAN ENGINEERING

Sebastian Zucchet

On Saturday afternoon FC Bayern Munich sealed their tenth Bundesliga title in a row, as well as their 32nd in franchise history. The Bavarian club has now set a record amongst the top five European leagues for the most consecutive titles. The previous holder was Juventus, but their streak was broken when Inter Milan won the Serie A title in 2021. Mathematically, Bayern sealed their record-breaking title with a whopping three games to spare, beating their famous rivals Borussia Dortmund in “Der Klassiker” by a scoreline of 3-1.

Bayern was inspired by a sellout Allianz Arena that brought the noise and then some. Serge Gnabry opened the scoring early on with a brilliant strike, adding another one just minutes later despite it being ruled offside. Robert Lewandowski made it 2-0 before the end of the half. Emre Can converted a penalty for Dortmund to get them back in the game in the second half, but the wonderkid Jamal Musiala sealed the victory for Bayern.

Following the win, Bayern midfielder Thomas Muller became the most successful player in Bundesliga history after securing his eleventh title- all won with Bayern. He passed former teammate David Alaba who sits tied for second with Robert Lewandowski who won his tenth title on Saturday.

Bayern dominated the league, only losing four times with three draws and twenty-four wins. The Bundesliga will be the only trophy they win this season, which comes as a failure for the club. They were humiliated in the DFB Pokal by Borussia Monchengladbach by a 5-0 scoreline and knocked out of the Champions League quarter-final by Villareal a few weeks ago, capping off an ugly stretch of soccer for the German side.

Despite the numerous gut-wrenching heartbreaks, this season witnessed a new era for Bayern that kicked off with appointing their manager: Julian Naglesmann. In spite of doubt and clouded judgment by his peers, Naglesmann brought defender Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Marcel Sabitzer from his old club, a move that solidified Bayern’s defense by adding some much-needed depth.

It is also worth noting that Canadian superstar Alphonso Davies secured his fourth Bundesliga title this past weekend, only adding to the star-studded list of resumes within the ‘Stern des Südens’ lineup.

Dortmund was able to keep close in the middle part of the season, but ultimately lost key games and more importantly their grasp on Bayern- a side that took advantage of the poor results suffered from their bitter rivals to gain a twelve-point gap on them.

Bayern are already favorites to secure next year's title; a task easier said than done with star striker Robert Lewandowski reportedly leaving the club. This could very well open the door for Dortmund of Leipzig to break Bayern’s Bundesliga dominance.

Bayern will lift the “Meisterschale” on May 8th in their final home game of the season against Stuttgart as their paramountcy across Europe meets its seamlessly inevitable next chapter.