BERLIN: Bayern Munich won 3-0 at struggling Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday to take another step toward a record-extending 32nd German league title, moving nine points ahead of second-place Borussia Dortmund with four games left.
The Bundesliga race could be decided when the teams meet in Munich next Saturday.
It was an expected but welcome win for Bayern after a surprise elimination by Spanish side Villarreal in the Champions League quarterfinals.
“In the end, the first 20 minutes were a good indicator of how we come out of this week,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “It was a deserved win and important that we got the chance to seal the title against Dortmund.”
Bayern led after 11 minutes when Danish defender Jacob Barrett Laursen scored an own-goal under pressure from league top scorer Robert Lewandowski.
The goal was awarded following a video replay which confirmed Lewandowski was not offside when he went to meet Joshua Kimmich’s pass.
Serge Gnabry scored the second goal — also awarded following a VAR review — in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time from another pass by Kimmich.
The first half was delayed near the end when Arminia’s Fabian Kunze was stretchered off injured after taking an elbow during an aerial challenge.
Bayern was rarely troubled by a side which has scored only 23 goals, nine less than Lewandowski has managed himself. Lewandowski, who has netted nearly 350 goals for the club overall, is in talks over a new contract, with his current deal expiring at the end of next season.
He set up Jamal Musiala for the third goal in the 85th.
Arminia said that about 10 minutes from the end of the match a fan had to be “resuscitated” in the stands and was taken to the hospital after being stabilized.
OTHER RESULTS
Leipzig leapfrogged Bayer Leverkusen for third place with a 1-0 win in Leverkusen.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winner in the 69th to give Leipzig its third straight win in all competitions. The club is unbeaten in nine consecutive league games.
Leverkusen was coming off two wins and a draw in its last three games.
Sixth-place Union Berlin built on its derby win over Hertha Berlin with a 2-0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Eintracht, coming off a win over Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, was one of only two Bundesliga teams that Union had failed to beat at home since it earned promotion in 2019. Bayern is the other.
Last-place Greuther Fürth drew 0-0 at eighth-place Hoffenheim. Fürth is 12 points from safety and only has a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation.
On Saturday, striker Erling Haaland scored twice as Dortmund routed Wolfsburg 6-1 to maintain its very thin chances of catching Bayern.
Bayern takes another step closer to 32nd German league title
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Bayern takes another step closer to 32nd German league title
- The Bundesliga race could be decided when the teams meet in Munich next Saturday
Barcelona pounces on Real Madrid stumble and regains lead of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Levante
- Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna
MADRID: Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble and regained the Spanish league lead with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Levante on Sunday.
Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López scored a goal each as Barcelona ended a two-game losing streak to get back in front of rival Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Osasuna on Saturday.
Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna.
Barcelona was coming off a 2-1 loss to Girona in the league and a 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
“It was important to win and earn three points again,” Barcelona defender João Cancelo said. “Soccer gives you these opportunities to rebound and that’s what we did today, playing well again after two bad games.”
Barcelona had earned a clean sheet only once in its previous six games in all competitions.
Good start for Barcelona
Bernal scored from close range four minutes into the match at the Camp Nou Stadium. The 18-year-old Bernal had scored his first goal with the first team two rounds ago in a win over Mallorca.
“They had an early chance but my goal helped us settle and gain some confidence,” Bernal said.
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
Levante’s Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kept Barcelona from adding the fourth with a pair of outstanding saves in a row in the final minutes, first off a header by Raphinha and then off a point-blank strike from López on the rebound.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Levante, which sits in 19th place. It is one point ahead of last-place Oviedo, which has a game in hand.
Levante has only one victory in its last eight matches.
Pedri entered the match in the 66th to make his return to action after an injury layoff.
Other results
Sevilla won 1-0 at 10-man Getafe for its second win in its last 10 matches in all competitions.
Djibril Sow scored a 64th-minute winner for the visitors. Getafe played a man down from the 26th after a straight red card for Djene Dakonam.
The result left Sevilla in 11th place, immediately above Getafe.
Third-place Villarreal, Barcelona’s next league opponent, can restore a three-point gap to fourth-place Atletico Madrid if it beats Valencia at home later Sunday. Atletico beat Espanyol 4-2 at home on Saturday.
