Bayern Munich made to wait for historic fourth consecutive title

Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich must wait to have their historic fourth consecutive Bundesliga title confirmed after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.

The champagne had to be put back on ice at the Allianz Arena after Thomas Mueller's first-half header for Bayern was cancelled out by Andre Hahn's superb second-half strike for Gladbach.

Second-placed Borussia Dortmund romped to a 5-1 win at home against Wolfsburg to trim Bayern's lead at the top to five points with two games left.

Bayern are away to mid-table Ingolstadt next Saturday, then host relegated Hanover on the final day of the season in a fortnight. 

The draw with Gladbach comes three days before Tuesday's crunch Champions League home semi-final against Atletico Madrid with Bayern having lost the first leg 1-0 away last Wednesday."Of course, we had wanted to win today, for our fans and for ourselves," said Guardiola.

"We need just a point now, a draw, or a win to secure the title.

"But now there's time to concentrate on Atletico Madrid, it will be a different game on Tuesday. We must play better."

Bayern were punished for sitting back after Mueller's sixth-minute headed opener.

Gladbach, one of only two clubs to beat Bayern in the German league this season, hit back when Hahn slotted home on 72 minutes having gone close just moments before.

A superb pass from Lars Stindl put Hahn in behind the Bayern defence and he wrong-footed Medhi Benatia before firing his shot past Manuel Neuer.

There was some good news for Bayern as Jerome Boateng started his first game since January.

The Germany defender is now in line to face Diego Simeone's Atletico with a place in the Champions League final on May 28 at stake.In Dortmund, Borussia hammered Wolfsburg with Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa scoring their first and creating their second before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to score twice.

The Gabon striker now has 25 league goals this season, leaving him two short of Bayern's Robert Lewandowski.

Dortmund took the lead when Henrikh Mkhitaryan's bullet pass was deflected home by Kagawa, who then set up Ramos to leave Dortmund 2-0 up inside nine minutes.

Marco Reus grabbed their third by chipping home with an hour gone.

Aubameyang replaced Ramos on 69 minutes and scored his first just eight minutes later when Mkhitaryan's pass found him unmarked to header home, then netted a second header just a minute later before Wolfsburg's Andre Schuerrle scored a consolation.

Later, Bayer Leverkusen confirmed their direct place in the Champions League next season with a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin to guarantee third place.Leverkusen raced into a 2-0 lead at the BayArena with goals by Julian Brandt and Lars Bender before Vedad Ibisevic pulled a goal back for Berlin with 16 minutes gone.

Fifth-placed Hertha must now battle Borussia Moenchengladbach, Schalke and Mainz for fourth spot which carries a place in the Champions League's play-offs. 

At the other end of the table, Hanover 96's relegation was confirmed by their 3-1 defeat to Schalke.

Eintracht Frankfurt boosted their survival hopes with a 2-1 win at Darmstadt to go 16th, which carries a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off at the end of the season.

But 17th-placed Werder Bremen can push Frankfurt back down the table if they beat VfB Stuttgart, who are 15th, at home on Monday in a crunch relegation battle. 

Mid-table Hamburg played out a goalless draw at home to Mainz, who stay seventh and on course for a Europa League place.

Hoffenheim looked to have escaped relegation under 28-year-old coach Julian Nagelsmann, the youngest in the Bundesliga's history, and they are four points from the drop zone, after their 2-1 win at home to Ingolstadt

Source :AFP