Bayern Munich clinch 25th Bundesliga title; Vermaelen ruled fit for Barcelona

Bayern Munich were confirmed as German champions for the 25th time on Sunday as Wolfsburg’s 1-0 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach meant Pep Guardiola’s side can no longer be caught.

Gladbach’s Germany striker Max Kruse sent the title to Bavaria as his 90th-minute winning goal at Borussia Park saw Bayern finish the weekend with an unassailable 15 point-lead with four games left.

Bayern had picked up their 24th victory in 30 league games on Saturday when Bastian Schweinsteiger’s late goal sealed a 1-0 home win over Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena.

“It’s already something just to have defended the title,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who promised a “big celebration” when the season is over, told the club’s website.

“But I have to compliment the coach and the team, they did a great job in the season after a World Cup, in which many of our players were involved.”

The Bavarians have now won three consecutive German league titles, with Guardiola winning the Bundesliga in each of his two seasons in charge.

There is no time for Bayern to rest on their laurels, however, as they face a busy few weeks and are still in the running to repeat their 2013 treble of European, league and cup titles.

They host arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund tomorrow in the German Cup semi-final and with the league secure, Guardiola’s Bayern face a mouth-watering Uefa Champions League semi-final, first-leg at his former club Barcelona on May 6, with the return leg six days later.

“At some point we’ll gather on the town hall balcony and then really party hard with our fans,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.

Beaten Juventus miss chance to clinch title

Juventus were prevented from clinching a fourth consecutive Serie A title with a 2-1 loss at Torino on Sunday in a Turin derby marred by fan violence.

After Andrea Pirlo put Juventus ahead with a free kick 35 minutes in, fellow Italy international Matteo Darmian equalised just before half time and former Juve forward Fabio Quagliarella scored the winner in the 57th minute.

“We haven’t conceded two goals in a long time,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.

“We needed to be a bit tighter defensively. This certainly wasn’t a match we deserved to lose.”

It was only Juve’s third league loss this season and the first time Torino have won the league derby in 20 years. Since Torino’s last win in April, 1995, they had lost 13 derbies and drawn four.

“The fans deserved this victory,” Quagliarella said. “It’s tough to describe the emotions now.”

Before the match, Torino fans attacked the bus carrying Juve’s players as it approached the stadium, breaking a window. Juventus supporters retaliated by throwing fireworks at Torino counterparts inside the stadium, injuring several.

“There were no problems between the teams on the field of play,” Allegri said. “Unfortunately in Italy we’re still far behind in this regard and there are people who continue to do these things.”

Juventus needed a win and a Lazio loss to clinch the title, and Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Chievo Verona.

Juventus are 14 points ahead of Lazio with six matches remaining.

Roma are one point further back in third after a 2-1 defeat at Inter Milan on Saturday.

 Barcelona

Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen has been given the all-clear to make his first appearance for Barcelona nearly nine months since he joined the Spanish giants. Vermaelen has been plagued by hamstring problems that he originally suffered whilst representing his country at last year’s World Cup before sealing his reported €20 million (Dh88m) move from Arsenal.

Vermaelen, 29, had an operation on the injury in December, but could now have a role to play in Barca’s push for a treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey. “Five months after suffering an injury in his right hamstring, the Belgian player Thomas Vermaelen has been given the medical all-clear,” Barca said in a statement Sunday. Vermaelen’s return for Wednesday’s La Liga match at home to Getafe means manager Luis Enrique has a fully-fit squad to choose from for the first time this season.

 Germany

Australia goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak will face holders Bayern Munich for Borussia Dortmund in Tuesday’s mouth-watering German Cup semi-final with Germany international Roman Weidenfeller ruled out. A pelvis injury to World Cup-winner Weidenfeller means Langerak will keep his place in Dortmund’s goal for the clash at Munich’s Allianz Arena having played in Saturday’s 2-0 league win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. The Munich showdown will be a repeat of both the 2012 and 2014 German Cup finals in Berlin when Dortmund thrashed Bayern 5-2 three years ago, when Langerak came off the bench early on after a Weidenfeller injury. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern took revenge with a 2-0 extra-time victory in Berlin last year as they won the league and cup double. Arminia Bielefeld face Wolfsburg in the second semi-final on Wednesday.

 Scotland

A second Leigh Griffiths hat-trick in 11 days spurred Celtic to a 3-0 win away at Dundee United on Sunday and ever closer to the Scottish Premiership title. Celtic are now eight points clear of Aberdeen, who won 2-1 away to Inverness on Saturday, with just four matches remaining. Celtic manager Ronny Deila was unhappy with his side’s first half performance after they went into the break at 0-0. “It was one of our poorest this season,” Delia said. “The second half was good and we got the tempo up, started to play forward and started to get some runs and aggression into our team.”

 Fifa

Suriname have pledged to support Michael van Praag in next month’s Fifa presidential election, becoming the first national association to publicly promise their vote to the Dutchman.

“I am delighted that John Krishnadath, the president of the Suriname Football Association has expressed his support for me,” said Van Praag, the Dutch FA (KNVB) president, on his website. “He had already informed me privately, but I appreciate his public statement immensely.” Van Praag, 67, is challenging Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency at the May 29 election alongside former Portugal forward Luis Figo and Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein. Blatter, 79, is seen as favourite to be elected for fifth mandate, although relatively few of the 209 national associations have publicly confirmed who they will vote for.

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