Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen ends the season undefeated, Cologne goes down to D2

4 months ago 22

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The curtain falls on the German championship. This Saturday afternoon, the 18 teams making up the elite of German football were expected on deck for the 34th and final day of the Bundesliga 2023-2024 edition. Crowned German champion for the first time in its history, Bayer Leverkusen hosted Augsburg with the sole challenge of finishing the year undefeated, while a treble could be obtained in the coming days with the Europa League final. and the German Cup. In this meeting that looked like a “small finale” to quote the words made by Xabi Alonso at a press conference, the Spanish technician’s men enforced the hierarchy thanks to the achievements of Victor Boniface and Robert Andrich. The response of the FCA and its young prodigy Mert Komur in the second half will remain anecdotal. With this umpteenth success (2-1), Bayer Leverkusen becomes the first club to complete a Bundesliga season undefeated and extends its unbeaten streak to 51 matches in all competitions.

To secure its second place behind Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich was obliged to get three points against Hoffenheim, still in the race to play in Europe next year. Getting off to a flying start, the Bavarian club made the difference, led by an excellent Mathys Tel, scorer then decisive passer for Alphonso Davies. If Maximilian Beier immediately restarted the debates, Andrej Kramaric turned the game around by scoring a hat-trick to offer his team three points as well as qualification for the Europa Conference League (4-2). A poor performance which benefits VfB Stuttgart. In demonstration at the MHP Arena, the Swabian club relied on its serial scorer Serhou Guirassy as well as achievements from Jeong Woo-Yeong and Silas, to explode Monchengladbach (4-0) and recover the place of runner-up to the detriment of the Recorder. The consequence is terrible for Bayern Munich who will not play in the 2024 German Super Cup whatever happens. Faced with a Darmstadt team already condemned to relegation since April, Dortmund walked in front of their home crowd (4-0). We will also highlight Marco Reus’ nice free kick for his last at Signal Iduna Park.

Heidenheim condemns Cologne to relegation, Bochum will compete in the play-offs

At the same time, Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig faced each other at Deutsche Bank Park. Surprised by Xavi Simons then Benjamin Sesko, SGE turned things around in the second half through Hugo Ekitike and Omar Marmoush to grab the draw (2-2). Held in check by the Saxon club, Frankfurt nevertheless remains 5th and can hope to play in the Champions League next season in the event of a final victory for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid in London, the next 1st. At the bottom of the table, the suspense was at its height. 17th with three points behind the play-off place occupied by Union Berlin before the kick-off of this day, FC Cologne had to win on the pitch of Heidenheim, a team which no longer had much- nothing to contend for except to end his first season in the elite in style. Completely missing the point, Cologne took on water in Baden-Württemberg, dryly swept away by the residents of the Voith-Arena (3-1). With this defeat, the visiting team marks its descent into the second division and at the same time saves the capital club.

In pain, Union Berlin beat a team from Friborg by a short head which could keep a slim hope of competing in Europe in the event of a favorable result (2-1). On the edge, the Men of Iron snatch their hold on the German elite. Remaining on an incredible dynamic (undefeated since the humiliation suffered at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich 8 goals to 1 on March 9) like its success against Borussia Dortmund last week, Mainz ensured the essential against VfL Wolfsburg (1-3). With their backs against the wall following Paredes’ opener, the Nullfünfer came back into the game through their nugget Brajan Gruda before winning thanks to goals from Sepp Van den Berg and Jonathan Burkardt. After having occupied the bottom of the ranking for a long time, Mainz has validated its maintenance with the sweat of its brow. In the north of Germany, Werder Bremen was battling VfL Bochum. Corrected at the Weserstadion (4-1), the Graue Maus will play for their survival in the first division against Fortuna Düsseldorf.