Bayern Munich virtual ‘meister’ of Germany

MUNICH -  Unless pigs start flying over Berlin next week, Bayern Munich will be crowned Bundesliga champions for the 22nd time.

Bayern’s 3-1 victory over VfL Bochum on Saturday and Schalke’s 2-0 defeat at home to Werder Bremen means the race for the German league title is effectively over.

Louis van Gaal’s side will make it official at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium next Saturday.

Bayern take a three point lead over Schalke to play relegated Hertha Berlin, and a goal difference of plus 17 as well as many more goals scored.

Thomas Mueller: Hattrick

It means Schalke would have to win, for example, 9-0 at Mainz, and hope Bayern are also beaten 9-0 at Hertha.

If pigs had wings, everything would be possible – to coin a German version of the idiom about flying pigs – but such a last-day scenario is clearly the stuff of fantasy

Thomas Mueller scored a hat trick for the team of Louis van Gaal in the 3-1 win over Bochum on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Mueller has been the revelation of the season after being used in several positions.

“It’s a fantastic feeling. We’ve achieved what we’ve worked for all season,” Mueller said. “My first season and my first championship – it’s as good as it gets. We’ve gotten what we wanted the most and now we can go after more.”

Bayern is in the final of the Champions League and the German Cup and can achieve a treble in coach Louis van Gaal’s first season.

“It gives my players a lot of confidence and now we have two weeks to prepare, and we can do even better,” Van Gaal said.

Hertha Berlin drew 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen but was relegated only one season after finishing fourth. Berlin will be the only major European capital without a top-division club.

Despite the loss, Schalke is sure of playing in the Champions League next season. Werder has a two-point edge over Leverkusen in third, which brings Champions League qualifying.

Hannover thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 6-1 to move out of the drop zone. Hannover plays Bochum in the final round and has 30 points, two more than Bochum and Nuremberg, which lost 4-0 at Hamburg. Hertha is already demoted with 24 points.

In Munich, the sellout crowd of 69,000 began celebrating the title long before the final whistle after learning that Schalke was losing at home.

Mueller capped Bayern’s early dominance, sending the ball into the net with his chest after a low cross from Philipp Lahm in the 18th minute.

Two minutes later, Mueller doubled the lead. Lahm passed across the goal to Franck Ribery, who volleyed the ball back into the area for a running Mueller to head under the crossbar.

Mueller hit the post in the 54th before completing his hat trick in the 69th, charging past two defenders to score his 13th goal of the season.

Christian Fuchs’s free kick in the 85th gave Bochum its goal.

Schalke had an appeal for a penalty denied shortly before halftime and Kevin Kuranyi later hit the crossbar. But Werder struck after the break with goals from Mesut Oezil and Hugo Almeida to dash Schalke’s hopes of winning its first championship in 52 years.

Schalke coach Felix Magath congratulated Bayern on a “well deserved championship,” but complained that some refereeing decisions had gone against his team.

The home crowd gave Magath a standing ovation despite the loss.

“It’s sensational, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Magath said.
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