Bayern clinch 28th German Bundesliga title

APD NEWS

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Bayern Munich wrapped up the 28th Bundesliga title with five rounds to spare after beating Augsburg 4-1 at the 29th round in the league on Saturday.

The German champions came from behind to secure their sixth consecutive league title.

Things started other than expected though as Bayern had to swallow a little setback when Augsburg opened the scoring after a moment of madness from Bayern defender Jerome Boateng, who lost the ball at the edge of the box. Goalkeeper Seven Ulreich made a parry but Niklas Suele deflected the rebound into the wrong goal with 18 minutes played.

The runaway leaders remained unimpressed and responded well as Corentin Tolisso headed home Joshua Kimmich's pinpoint cross into the box to restore parity in the 32nd minute.

Kimmich remained in the thick of things and set up another goal after dancing through Augsburg's defence before finding Juan Bernat, whose back-heel pass allowed James Rodriguez to tap home the 2-1 at the far post six minutes later.

Bayern's two quick goals knocked out Augsburg, who were unable to put some resistance after the restart.

The frontrunners continued on the front foot and showed no mercy with the hosts as Arjen Robben unleashed a hammer from 14 meters to extend the lead to 3-1 with 62 minutes into the game.

Jupp Heynckes' men were still not done with the scoring as Sandro Wagner nodded home Sebastian Rudy's corner kick to round off the 4-1 comeback victory in the dying minutes of the game.

With the result, Bayern sit uncatchable atop the standings with a 20-point advantage with five rounds to play meanwhile Augsburg slipped to the 11th place after suffering the 11th loss of the season.

"It is a success for all of us. However, the players are the protagonists of this achievement. It is something very special to become German champions. I would like to send greetings to Italy to Carlo Ancelotti. The title is also for him. He is a great coach," Bayern's head coach Jupp Heynckes said.

Elsewhere, Borussia Monchengladbach bounced back 2-1 as two second-half goals from Thorgan Hazard cancelled out Hertha Berlin's opener through Salomon Kalou.

Wolfsburg have ended their nine-game winless run after beating Freiburg 2-0 on Daniel Didavi's brace and bottom side Cologne were unable to defend their one goal advantage as relegation threatened Mainz reap a 1-1 draw by courtesy on Pablo De Blasis' equalizer.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)