Bayern Munich on brink of Bundesliga title, Kane eyes record
24 April 2025 - 18:17
byKarolos Grohmann
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Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is on track to win the first major trophy of his career. Picture: Harry Kane/REUTERS
Bayern Munich will secure the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a win over top four hopefuls Mainz 05 if rivals and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen fail to beat Augsburg.
The Bavarians, who in 2024 saw Leverkusen clinch a league and Cup double undefeated, are eager to seal their 34th German league crown and reestablish their domestic dominance.
It would also help put last week's bitter Champions League quarterfinal exit to Inter Milan behind them.
For 31-year-old forward Harry Kane, who has scored 60 goals in his 60 Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far, it would be the first major club trophy of his career, having failed to lift any silverware with Tottenham Hotspur or England.
With 24 league goals so far, Kane is also on track to become the first player to win the top scorer title in both of his first two Bundesliga seasons.
Bayern are on 72 points with four matches left to play, and with Leverkusen second on 64.
For 35-year-old Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will be leaving at the end of the season after 25 years at the club, it could be his 500th league game for Bayern.
Only three other players in Bundesliga history have ever reached that mark playing for just one club: Charly Koerbel (602 games for Eintracht Frankfurt), Manfred Kaltz (581 matches for Hamburg SV) and Michael Lameck (518 for VfL Bochum).
While Bayern's title win looks all but certain and Leverkusen are sure of Champions League football next season being 12 points ahead of third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, there is a battle raging for the last two spots in the top continental club competition.
The top four finishers qualify automatically for the Champions League.
Eintracht, third on 52 points, host fourth-placed RB Leipzig, on 49, on Saturday. Freiburg, on 48, are fifth.
Mainz, sixth on 47 points, and seventh-placed Borussia Dortmund on 45, are still in with a chance, albeit slim, of finishing in the top four.
Dortmund, who travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, have had a disappointing domestic campaign, dropping outside of the European spots.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League, a competition in which they reached the final in 2024, would be a major financial and sporting blow to the publicly-traded Ruhr valley club.
But club bosses know that the horror scenario would be missing out on European football completely next season.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Bayern Munich on brink of Bundesliga title, Kane eyes record
Bayern Munich will secure the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a win over top four hopefuls Mainz 05 if rivals and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen fail to beat Augsburg.
The Bavarians, who in 2024 saw Leverkusen clinch a league and Cup double undefeated, are eager to seal their 34th German league crown and reestablish their domestic dominance.
It would also help put last week's bitter Champions League quarterfinal exit to Inter Milan behind them.
For 31-year-old forward Harry Kane, who has scored 60 goals in his 60 Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far, it would be the first major club trophy of his career, having failed to lift any silverware with Tottenham Hotspur or England.
With 24 league goals so far, Kane is also on track to become the first player to win the top scorer title in both of his first two Bundesliga seasons.
Bayern are on 72 points with four matches left to play, and with Leverkusen second on 64.
For 35-year-old Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will be leaving at the end of the season after 25 years at the club, it could be his 500th league game for Bayern.
Only three other players in Bundesliga history have ever reached that mark playing for just one club: Charly Koerbel (602 games for Eintracht Frankfurt), Manfred Kaltz (581 matches for Hamburg SV) and Michael Lameck (518 for VfL Bochum).
While Bayern's title win looks all but certain and Leverkusen are sure of Champions League football next season being 12 points ahead of third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, there is a battle raging for the last two spots in the top continental club competition.
The top four finishers qualify automatically for the Champions League.
Eintracht, third on 52 points, host fourth-placed RB Leipzig, on 49, on Saturday. Freiburg, on 48, are fifth.
Mainz, sixth on 47 points, and seventh-placed Borussia Dortmund on 45, are still in with a chance, albeit slim, of finishing in the top four.
Dortmund, who travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, have had a disappointing domestic campaign, dropping outside of the European spots.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League, a competition in which they reached the final in 2024, would be a major financial and sporting blow to the publicly-traded Ruhr valley club.
But club bosses know that the horror scenario would be missing out on European football completely next season.
Reuters
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