Key observations after Bayern thrash Gladbach and win league title

On Saturday, Bayern crushed Gladbach as they clinched a historic ninth consecutive league title. Meanwhile, any hopes RB Leipzig had of pipping the Bavarians to their first top-flight trophy were dashed in as they lost in a five-goal thriller to Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park. To make matters worse, Leipzig’s heart-breaking defeat happened hours earlier, meaning that they had to watch as Gladbach were humiliated as Bayern, in typically ruthless fashion pummeled them without mercy at the Allianz Arena.

With Hansi Flick saying Auf Wiedersehen at the end of this season, this match is also his penultimate tie at the Allianz Arena, and what a way to conclude proceedings before heading onto his next adventure. Here are some of our key observations from Saturday’s match – or rather, we should say, mismatch based on how things turned out.

Bayern were already champions even before kicking a ball

Yes, that’s correct. With the Dortmund-Leipzig match kicking off hours earlier, the title race could go many ways, depending on the results from that game. If Leipzig had won and Gladbach had won, the title race would have been pushed to matchday 33. Simply put, if the difference between Leipzig and Bayern was less than seven points, fans would have to wait longer to see who’d be champs of Germany. Anything more, mathematically, the title would remain in Bayern’s hands.

So, ironically, Dortmund, one of Bayern’s most bitter rivals, ended up handing the title to die Roten even before Bayern’s players had suited up and gotten ready for action. They really ought to thank Jadon Sancho for his late goal that gave all three points to die Schwarzgelben, broke Leipzig fans’ hearts, and ensured that Bayern won their ninth straight league title!

Robert Lewandowski is cruelly underrated…

Lewandowski, without a shadow of a doubt, deserves to be called the best no. 9 in the world, and it’s not too much of a stretch to call him among the best players in the world. Full stop. Everyone has spent years making it all about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but Robert Lewandowski has barely gotten a look-in. Is it because he plays in the Bundesliga, which still doesn’t have the aggressive marketing machine of La Liga? Probably. And that’s a shame, although the German top flight is really working to make major inroads in that arena. Or is it because he’s generally a quieter guy and not all about self-promoting? Probably. And it is really curious that in the year that he definitely would’ve won the Ballon d’Or that somehow, conveniently, they just decided not to hold the ceremony. Because, well, COVID. Even though many other conferences and events have found ways around it, somehow this one couldn’t.

Anyway, Lewandowski was at his best on Saturday, grabbing a hat-trick to bring his grand total for the season to 39. That means, he’s just one shy of matching Gerd Muller’s nearly 50 year record, and with two games to go, we all know that that means…

…yet despite his obvious talent, he’s amazingly unselfish

Lewandowski is a striker, and his goal is, well, to score goals. But he’s not selfish. Could one imagine some other players, including some who’ve won multiple Ballon d’Or titles doing what he did on Saturday? Rather than go for a fourth, he decided to provide an assist to Kingsley Coman so that the French international could get involved on the goal-fest, too. Coman, mind you, is the player who scored Bayern’s only goal to earn die Roten their first Champions League title since 2013 – something that Lewandowski has wanted since settling for a runners-up medal with Dortmund during that same year. So really, providing an assist to his teammate, from his perspective, is good for team morale, and plus, as we noted, he has two more games to match and break that record. It doesn’t cost him anything to chip in with an assist from time to time and indeed just contributes to the feel-good atmosphere among his colleagues.

When Bayern are on, they’re on, but when they’re off…

Bayern showed their trademark ruthlessness against Gladbach, which was great to see, but it was quite disappointing nonetheless. Where was this usual efficiency when they played PSG? Then again, they were missing their key man up front: Robert Lewandowski. Despite boasting one of the strongest attacks in the world, it’s now become readily apparent that they lose a huge aspect of their fear factor without the 32-year-old Polish star. The rumbling has started up yet again with rumors linking him with a move away this summer. Fans will obviously hope that it’s just nonsense, as there’s still the all-time goalscorer record for him to break. However, if it’s indeed true Bayern will push to bring in Erling Haaland and Lewandowski isn’t really impressed at the prospect of playing alongside the Norwegian youngster, then there is the possibility that Bayern could be seeing a huge – and rather unwanted – change up front starting next season. Is that something they’d really want? Because if their showing against PSG is any indicator, fans surely won’t want to have to contend with Europe’s biggest sides without the Polish ace leading the line any time soon.

Dealing with rivals in Germany is something Bayern have down pat – although they struggled for bits this season, they’re still the top dog in Germany, but in Europe is another proposition all together.

A big day for Manuel Neuer, who’s had his difficulties…but he could break a record before the season ends

It’s not been the easiest season for Neuer, who’s conceded more goals than he’s used to, and has had to deal with people saying that he’s “past it” for quite some time. Certainly, Neuer has had his difficulties for club and country for a few years, but that was bound to happen at some point as no player stays at his peak forever. However, this game certainly will do wonders for his confidence. Not only did he keep a clean sheet and celebrate another league title, but he also set a record in the process.

Neuer is now tied with legendary shot-stopper Oliver Kahn for the most clean sheets in Bundesliga history (204) and more important, did so in just 437 games. If he can manage a shut out in one of his remaining two games, he’ll topple Kahn’s record, so fans could see not one, but two records broken before Bayern’s season ends later this month!