Jamal Musiala scored in the 89th minute to win the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich on Saturday, leaving title chasers Borussia Dortmund heartbroken on the final day of a chaotic season punctuated by momentum swings and lead changes.
Though the two sides finished level on 71 points, Bayern finished in first place on goal difference.
Dortmund had a two-point lead heading into Saturday’s final round of matches and would’ve clinched the title with a victory over Mainz.
Bayern needed to beat Koln away and Dortmund to drop points at home to snatch the title from their rivals.
The day played out exactly as Bayern hoped – but not without a few twists and turns.
Musiala curled a beautiful shot into the bottom corner to break a 1-1 tie with Koln that would’ve handed the title to Dortmund.
News that Koln had equalized from the penalty spot sent the sellout crowd at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park into rapture even as their team trailed Mainz.
But Musiala’s late goal changed the equation. With Bayern back in the lead with mere minutes remaining, Dortmund had to win their match to stay in first.
Bayern put immediate pressure on Dortmund, scoring through Kingsley Coman after just eight minutes. Mainz made it even more complicated for Edin Terzic’s side, punishing sloppy defending in the area to take a 2-0 lead after just 25 minutes.
Sebastien Haller missed a chance to reduce Dortmund’s deficit before halftime when ‘keeper Finn Dahmen saved his attempt from the penalty spot.
As things stood, Dortmund needed three goals in the second half to seize the Meisterschale from Bayern, and they played like it, firing 16 shots in the final 45 minutes.
Raphael Guerreiro gave his fans hope with a strike that bounced in off the post in the 69th minute. And the roars reached deafening levels when the stadium announcer relayed news of the equalizer Koln scored against Bayern.
But Dortmund weren’t clinical enough to overturn the deficit. While Niklas Sule leveled the score in the 96th minute, it wasn’t enough to prevent Bayern from winning an 11th straight title.
“It’s really difficult. A really difficult situation for us,” Emre Can told Bundesliga.com. “We were so close to winning it. Of course, we’re very disappointed.”
Bayern and Dortmund had opened the door for one another over the last few weeks, each failing to capitalize on chances to pull away in the standings.
Bayern handed Dortmund the initiative last week when they lost to RB Leipzig, but the Bavarians had only regained the Bundesliga lead after Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with lowly Bochum in late April.
Earlier that month, Dortmund failed to take advantage of Bayern’s home draw against Hoffenheim, conceding a late equalizer in a 3-3 draw of their own against 10-man Stuttgart.
Head coach Terzic said his team’s humiliating second-half collapse against Stuttgart was even worse than the 3-2 loss to Werder Bremen it suffered earlier in the season. Dortmund led 2-0 in that match with just minutes to go before the end of regular time.
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