MUNICH: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich eased past Mainz 05 3-0 on Saturday but had to put title celebrations on ice after Bayer Leverkusen matched their win to stay eight points behind with three matches left to play.
The Bavarians, who top the standings with 75 points ahead of reigning champions Leverkusen, can secure a 34th German league title with a win at RB Leipzig next week.
But they will have to do it without Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane, with the England striker desperate to clinch the first trophy of his career for club or country, as he will be suspended after picking up a fifth booking and a suspension.
“It’s not ideal but we won,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany of Kane’s yellow card. “But it is not like a final (next week).”
“We will play 34 games this season and I think (injured) guys like Jamal (Musiala), Alphonso (Davies), Dayot Upamecano and (Hiroki) Ito also have to celebrate the title,” he said
“Every title you have to celebrate it like it’s your first so I don’t think it will make much of a difference for Harry.”
“It doesn’t take away a single percent of his contribution this season.”
With 24 league goals this term, the 31-year-old England captain looks set to become the first player to be crowned the league’s top scorer in each of his first two Bundesliga seasons.
“Crazy, crazy decision,” said Kane. “It’s kind of my story that I’ll miss the Leipzig game. But no worries, I’ll celebrate more than anyone else.”
Mainz dropped to seventh place and outside the European qualifying places.
With Mainz briefly down to 10 players due to the injury of Anthony Caci, Leroy Sane made the most of the extra man, firing in after a quick combination in the box with Serge Gnabry to give Bayern a 28th-minute lead.
The Bundesliga leaders, who last week were eliminated by Inter Milan in the Champions League last eight, doubled it with Michael Olize’s solo effort and superb finish from a tight angle five minutes before the break.
Sane, who is in talks with the club over a contract extension, twice hit the woodwork in the second half before Eric Dier headed home their third goal in the 84th.
Thomas Mueller came on late in the second half to make his 500th league appearance for Bayern, with the 35-year-old leaving at the end of the season after 25 years at the club.
He is only the fourth player to reach that mark in the Bundesliga featuring for one club after Charly Koerbel (602 games for Eintracht Frankfurt), Manfred Kaltz (581 matches for Hamburg SV) and Michael Lameck (518 for VfL Bochum).
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Bayern cruise past Mainz 3-0 but title celebrations on ice
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Bayern cruise past Mainz 3-0 but title celebrations on ice
- The Bavarians can secure a 34th German league title with a win at RB Leipzig next week
- They will have to do it without Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane
Jannik Sinner beats great rival Carlos Alcaraz to retain ATP Finals title
TURIN: Jannik Sinner retained the ATP Finals title on Sunday after beating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 and ending a turbulent season with victory over his great rival.
Italian Sinner brought the house down in Turin by winning the championship match tennis fans wanted to see, adding the prestigious year-ending tournament to the Australian Open and a landmark triumph at Wimbledon this season.
The 24-year-old also bounced back from a three-month ban which chopped out a large chunk of his season despite the World Anti-Doping Agency accepting that the Italian was accidentally contaminated with banned substance clostebol last year.
Sinner has now won 31 straight matches on indoor hard courts, a run which stretches back to the 2023 championship match at Turin’s Inalpi Arena which he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Four more wins on indoor hard courts would draw him level with Djokovic’s tally set between 2012 and 2015 — the second-highest in the Open era but some way behind John McEnroe’s record of 47.
He hasn’t dropped a set at the Finals since losing that final to the Serb two years ago, and he was imperious over the week in northern Italy.
While both Sinner and Alcaraz breezed into the final, the championship game was an attritional affair, with each player rock-solid on serve until an enthralling tie-break at the end of the first set.
Sinner took the lead thanks to a brilliant lob which set up set point, and he made no mistake with a missile of a serve which Alcaraz could only limply send wide.
But Sinner immediately handed Alcaraz the advantage in the second set with two double-faults which helped hand his opponent a break of serve at the start of the frame.
Sinner hadn’t dropped a service game in the whole tournament up to that point but he broke back in game six to put the crowd on their feet.
And Sinner collapsed to the ground in joy when Alcaraz sent a backhand wide on the first championship point, before heading into the stands to share his joy with his family amid the roars of the crowd.
Italian Sinner brought the house down in Turin by winning the championship match tennis fans wanted to see, adding the prestigious year-ending tournament to the Australian Open and a landmark triumph at Wimbledon this season.
The 24-year-old also bounced back from a three-month ban which chopped out a large chunk of his season despite the World Anti-Doping Agency accepting that the Italian was accidentally contaminated with banned substance clostebol last year.
Sinner has now won 31 straight matches on indoor hard courts, a run which stretches back to the 2023 championship match at Turin’s Inalpi Arena which he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Four more wins on indoor hard courts would draw him level with Djokovic’s tally set between 2012 and 2015 — the second-highest in the Open era but some way behind John McEnroe’s record of 47.
He hasn’t dropped a set at the Finals since losing that final to the Serb two years ago, and he was imperious over the week in northern Italy.
While both Sinner and Alcaraz breezed into the final, the championship game was an attritional affair, with each player rock-solid on serve until an enthralling tie-break at the end of the first set.
Sinner took the lead thanks to a brilliant lob which set up set point, and he made no mistake with a missile of a serve which Alcaraz could only limply send wide.
But Sinner immediately handed Alcaraz the advantage in the second set with two double-faults which helped hand his opponent a break of serve at the start of the frame.
Sinner hadn’t dropped a service game in the whole tournament up to that point but he broke back in game six to put the crowd on their feet.
And Sinner collapsed to the ground in joy when Alcaraz sent a backhand wide on the first championship point, before heading into the stands to share his joy with his family amid the roars of the crowd.
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