Borussia Dortmund take pole position in Bundesliga Title Race
A shocking 3-1 home defeat to RB Leipzig for Bayern over the weekend, Borussia Dortmund took pole position to end Bayern’s reign as the kings of German soccer and to reclaim the Bundesliga title for the first time since 2012.
A Decade of Domination:
11 years — that’s how long it has been since someone other than Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga. During that year, José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were battling it out as the managers of Real Madrid and Barcelona, Sergio Agüero scored one of the most famous goals in history to win Manchester City their first title in 44 years and Erling Haaland was just 11-years-old.
What followed was a decade of absolute domination from Bayern — 10 straight Bundesliga titles were won. Although they were challenged at points, they kept finding a way to win title after title.
Dortmund take Pole Position:
Bayern’s streak of successive Bundesliga titles is now in serious trouble, however.
Dortmund defeated Augsburg 3-0 a day after Bayern’s loss to RB Leipzig. A brace from Sébastien Haller and a late goal from Julian Brandt helped Dortmund take pole position over Bayern with just one game remaining. Dortmund now has 70 points, two more than Bayern’s 68 points.
“We have suffered and we had to sweat a lot, not only this season,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “Now it is about taking that last step together with our fans in our stadium in our city and bring the league trophy finally back to Dortmund.
Final Day Scenarios:
Dortmund’s last game of the season is a home matchup against 9th-place Mainz this Saturday. Dortmund won the previous at Mainz 2-1. Bayern’s last game is an away fixture at FC Köln. Köln is sitting in 10th place and the previous fixture between the two ended in a 1-1 draw.
A win for Dortmund, a Bayern loss or draw on Saturday wins Dortmund the league. For Bayern to take the crown yet again, they need to win their game and hope for a Dortmund draw or loss.
Bayern has a superior goal difference of plus-53 to Dormund’s plus-39, so if the two are tied on 71 points after Saturday, Bayern will win the Bundesliga on goal difference.
In Their Hands:
Bayern were the favorites to win yet another Bundesliga title before the season. The addition of players such as Sadio Mané had Bayern in pole position to win its 11th-straight title. However, poor performances and the sacking of manager Julian Nagelsmann have given Dortmund the chance of a lifetime.
Dortmund has performed just well enough this season to take over the pole position heading into the final weekend. The title is in their hands, and the world will be watching this weekend to see if Dortmund can end Bayern’s decade of domination.
SUBSCRIBE to the Vendetta YouTube Channel!
CLICK HERE for more soccer content!
