Dortmund end German title wait

Borussia Dortmund win first Bundesliga since 2002 with two games to spare as challengers Leverkusen lose.

Dortmund
undefined
Net gain: Dortmund fans celebrate the title after the final whistle at Signal Iduna Park [Reuters]

German giants Borussia Dortmund secured their first Bundesliga title in nine years when they beat Nuremberg 2-0 and closest rivals Bayer Leverkusen lost by the same score at struggling Cologne.

The two results left Borussia with an unassailable eight points ahead of Leverkusen with two matches each to play, handing them their seventh title and their first since 2002.

First-half goals from Lucas Barrios, his 14th Bundesliga goal of the season, and Robert Lewandowski gave Borussia their win in front of more than 70,000 fans.

The second half was played in a festive atmosphere especially after Leverkusen fell behind in their game.

Two second-half goals from Milivoje Novakovic gave Cologne, playing their first game under interim coach Volker Finke after Franck Schaefer quit on Wednesday, their win over Leverkusen.

Leverkusen remain without a Bundesliga title after yet another near miss.

Borussia have won 22 of their 32 games and lost only four on their way to their seventh title.

Jurgen Klopp’s side also proved their credentials with home and away wins over their Bavarian rivals and defending champions Bayern Munich.

A convincing 2-0 win over Bayern at Dortmund in October was backed up with a 3-1 win at Munich’s Allianz Arena at the end of February.

While Mainz won their opening seven games to race into an early lead to steal the limelight, Dortmund quietly picked up points and were perfectly placed to take over at the top when Mainz finally faltered in mid-October.

The major fall from grace this year has been from 2009 champions Wolfsburg, who have had a humiliating season, sacking former England manager Steve McLaren and currently hovering just above the drop zone on 35 points.

Source: News Agencies