A historic Bundesliga\u00a0came to an end\u00a0this weekend, crowning Bayer Leverkusen as champions for the first\u00a0time in an unprecedented manner.\u00a0
Great\u00a0season in Germany with many surprises.\u00a0Although the champion was defined early, the expectation of seeing Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak was always latent.
On the other hand, the fight for the European tournaments and relegation was in play until the last minutes, bringing excitement to neutrals and fans of German soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xabi Alonso and his team will go down in history.\u00a028\u00a0wins, six draws, zero defeats, 89 goals scored and 24 conceded.\u00a090\u00a0points out of a possible 102.<\/strong>\u00a0What a way to enter the books of Bundesliga champions, winning their first league title in 114 years of history.\u00a0 This tournament had two big surprises. Stuttgart came from fighting relegation in recent years (even dropped to the Second Division in 2019) to achieve the runner-up position.\u00a072\u00a0points, a campaign worthy of a champion, but they came up against this super Bayer Leverkusen. Guinean Serhou Guirassy (28 goals) and German Deniz Undav (18) commanded this team that returned to the Champions League 15 years later.\u00a0<\/strong> For next season, Germany will have five Champions League spots:\u00a0Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Leipzig, and Borussia Dortmund, in that order, in the top five.\u00a0<\/strong> When and Where?\u00a0<\/strong> When and Where?\u00a0<\/strong> When and Where?\u00a0<\/strong>
The German pharmaceutical company’s team had very high peaks, especially in 21-year-old Florian Wirtz, who\u00a0was voted\u00a0MVP of the season. He scored 11 goals and provided the same number of assists, but more than that, he put the team through its paces.<\/strong>\u00a0He provided magic on every pitch and scored a hat trick on the day they were crowned champions.\u00a0
But that was not\u00a0all,\u00a0defenders Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, and Alejandro Grimaldo, midfielder Granit Xhaka and striker Victor Boniface, as well as Wirtz, were included in the best team of the season.\u00a0<\/strong>
The performance of the two full-backs was exceptional, as they were more like wingers than defenders.\u00a0Grimaldo, the team’s master of the free kick, scored\u00a010\u00a0goals (Leverkusen’s third top scorer) and provided 13 assists, the most. Frimpong scored\u00a09\u00a0times and assisted in 7 opportunities.\u00a0<\/strong>
Boniface, who had started the season\u00a0in an unbeatable manner, missed a stage due to his participation in the African Cup of Nations and an injury that sidelined him for the first three months of this year.\u00a0Despite that, he still managed to score 14 goals and provide\u00a08\u00a0assists.\u00a0<\/strong>But most importantly, Bayer showed that they were a team with all the letters and managed to make up for the loss of their goal scorer.\u00a0
One of the things people will remember about this team is the strength\u00a0to never give up.\u00a0There were many, many\u00a0times,\u00a0that\u00a0they managed to come back and tie or even\u00a0come\u00a0win in the last minutes of stoppage time, in the\u00a0last\u00a0play.\u00a0A\u00a0champion for history.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nSurprises and Disappointments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The other surprise was Heidenheim, who, in their first season in the top flight, managed an eighth-place finish that could turn into a historic qualification to the Conference League but depends on Leverkusen winning the DFB Pokal final against Kaiserslautern.\u00a0<\/strong>
And for obvious reasons, the big disappointment is Bayern Munich.\u00a0A tournament\u00a0to forget for the German giants, who\u00a0were reinforced\u00a0with Harry Kane, and despite his 36 goals and Golden Boot, they cut short a streak of 11 titles in a row.<\/strong>\u00a0But beyond not winning the league, which can happen, they\u00a0are\u00a0reproached\u00a0for defeats against lesser teams, such as Bochum or Heidenheim, they\u00a0were eliminated in the DFB Pokal by a third-division\u00a0team,\u00a0and lost the German Super Cup to Leipzig.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nEuropean competitions and relegations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Two will go to the Europa League: the sixth-placed Frankfurt and the DFB Pokal champion, which is\u00a0between Leverkusen and second-tier Kaiserslautern.If Bayer wins the final, it will be Hoffenheim,\u00a0who are\u00a0currently holding the Conference League spot, who will take their place in the Europa League. If this happens, eighth-placed Heidenheim will go to the Conference League.\u00a0<\/strong>
In relegation matters, Darmstadt and K\u00f6ln are the teams who will play next season in the second division, while\u00a0Bochum will have a playoff against Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf, third in the 2nd Bundesliga.<\/strong>\u00a0It will be a two-game series, the\u00a0winner will be in the first division, andthe loser in the second.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nBundesliga Matchday 34:\u00a0Hoffenheim 4-2 Bayern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Saturday, May 18, 9:30 am ET at the PreZero Arena\u00a0<\/em>
Moneyline odds:\u00a0<\/strong>
Hoffenheim 3.47\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
Bayern 1.82\u00a0<\/em>
Draw Offs:\u00a0<\/strong>
5.00\u00a0<\/em>
Where can I watch it?\u00a0<\/strong>
ESPN+\u00a0<\/em><\/a>
Bayern ended the season the same way they started it: by losing.\u00a0A very\u00a0bad\u00a0year for the German giants, who\u00a0started\u00a0winning 0-2 over Hoffenheim and ended up losing 4-2.\u00a0<\/strong>
They had started well, and within 6 minutes, they had already scored their goals. First, it was Mathys Tel with a header and then Alphonso Davies with a cross-shot. It looked like it\u00a0was going to\u00a0be another day at the office for the Bavarians, but two\u00a0minutes later, after a mistake by Manuel Neuer and the defense, Maximilian Beier took advantage.\u00a0
Then came the Andrej Kramaric festival in the second half. The Croatian, who set up Beier for the first goal, equalized after pushing in a pass from Ihlas Bebou. Then, in the 85th minute, he shot from close range on the edge of the box to seal the comeback, and in the 87th minute, he scored after another mistake by Neuer and his defense.\u00a0
With this result, Hoffenheim secured seventh place and qualification for the Conference League, which could become the Europa League if Leverkusen are DFB Pokal champions. For their part, Bayern bid farewell to a season to forget.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBundesliga Matchday 34:\u00a0Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Augsburg<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Saturday, May 18, 9:30 am ET at the BayArena\u00a0<\/em>
Moneyline odds:\u00a0<\/strong>
Bayer Leverkusen 1.31\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
Augsburg 8.15\u00a0<\/em>
Draw Offs:\u00a0<\/strong>
6.53\u00a0<\/em>
Where can I watch it?\u00a0<\/strong>
ESPN+\u00a0<\/em><\/a>
Bayer Leverkusen has already\u00a0been talked\u00a0about, and this weekend\u00a0they\u00a0arrived at the BayArena to continue celebrating the title with their fans, bid farewell to this historic Bundesliga,<\/a> and continue their unbeaten run. And they did just that.\u00a0
It was an untroubled 2-1 victory over Augsburg. After 12 minutes, goalkeeper Tomas Koubek made a mistake, and Boniface made it 1-0, while in the 27th minute, it was Robert Andrich’s turn to score with a backheel inside the box.\u00a0
Mert K\u00f6m\u00fcr reduced the deficit in the 62nd minute with a good shot into the box, but the result was never in danger for Bayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nBundesliga Matchday 34:\u00a0Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 RB Leipzig\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Saturday, May 18, 9:30 am ET at the Deutsche Bank Park\u00a0<\/em>
Moneyline odds:\u00a0<\/strong>
Eintracht Frankfurt 3.11\u00a0<\/em>
RB Leipzig 2.22\u00a0<\/em>
Draw Offs:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
3.81\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
Where can I watch it?\u00a0<\/strong>
ESPN+\u00a0<\/em><\/a>
Frankfurt secured their place in the next Europa League by coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Leipzig, a team that was no longer playing for anything.\u00a0
The Red Bulls went ahead with goals from two of their young\u00a0stars:\u00a0Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko, both having great seasons.\u00a0The Dutchman made it 0-1 with a penalty, while\u00a0the Slovakian scored with a hard shot from outside the box, taking his tally to 14 goals and scoring for the seventh consecutive match.\u00a0<\/strong>
However, the home team did not want to be left out of the continental tournament and managed to equalize with a header by Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 and a penalty by Omar Marmoush.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nBundesliga Matchday 34:\u00a0Stuttgart 4-0 Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n