Sasa Kalajdzic of Austria dampened the mood at Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga title celebrations on Sunday, as Stuttgart held the champions to a 2-2 draw to keep their own survival hopes alive. Bayern was presented with the Bundesliga trophy in front of their own fans, but Kalajdzic’s second-half equalizer means they have now lost both games since winning their tenth consecutive title last month.
Bayern’s players had already come under fire for taking a two-day team vacation to Ibiza ahead of last week’s defeat to Mainz, and they delivered another poor performance against the relegation candidates. Bayern’s Thomas Mueller hit the crossbar and was denied by a flying save from Florian Mueller. In 35 minutes, Serge Gnabry finally broke through Stuttgart’s defense, lashing in a shot from a tight angle via defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Just before halftime, Mueller put Bayern ahead, prodding the ball home after an elegant pirouette in the box. The visitors fought back after the break, however, when Borna Sosa found Kalajdzic with a looping cross to tie the game at 2-2.
Leipzig has returned to the top four. In other news, RB Leipzig bounced back from their Europa League defeat by defeating Augsburg 4-0 to move a step closer to Champions League qualification. Following a heartbreaking semi-final loss to Rangers in midweek, Leipzig cruised to a thumping win at home to move two points clear of Freiburg in fourth place. Andre Silva scored his 11th goal of the season late in the first half to put the game out of reach. After the break, Christopher Nkunku headed in a Nordi Mukiele cross to double Leipzig’s lead, and the two Frenchmen combined again for Leipzig’s third just a few minutes later. Emil Forsberg converted a penalty to make it 4-0, putting an end to any hopes of a miraculous Augsburg comeback.
“It’s been a very difficult and emotional few days,” Silva said, “so we’re going to enjoy today.” Eintracht Frankfurt returned to Bundesliga action on Sunday, drawing 1-1 at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach. Goncalo Paciencia’s 25-meter screamer was the highlight of an entertaining dead rubber between two mid-table sides just days after Frankfurt’s semi-final victory over West Ham.
Gladbach took the lead after only four minutes when French striker Alassane Plea converted Jonas Hofmann’s low cross following a quick passing move by the visitors. Paciencia equalized for the hosts in spectacular fashion on 66 minutes, surprising Gladbach keeper Tobias Sippel with a net-busting long-range effort. When Daichi Kamada turned in a corner on 89 minutes, he thought he had snatched a late winner for the hosts, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
