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Bayern Munich snatched their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title in dramatic fashion with a final day 2-1 win at Cologne on Saturday courtesy of Jamal Musiala's 89th minute goal, grabbing the trophy from the hands of rivals Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund had gone into the last game of the season in top spot but stumbled to a 2-2 against visitors Mainz, allowing Bayern to squeeze past them in the tightest league race in years.
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In a climactic season finale, Bayern were celebrating what ended up being an unexpected title win while Dortmund's dreams of their first league trophy since 2012 were left in tatters when they were trailing 2-0 to Mainz early on before battling to a 2-2 draw - but they needed victory to become champions.
Bayern finished on 71 points, ahead on goal difference from Dortmund. RB Leipzig and sensational Union Berlin are third and fourth respectively and will also compete in the Champions League next season.
Hertha Berlin and Schalke were relegated, while VfB Stuttgart will go into the relegation playoff.
"It is unbelievable that I experience such a title race," said Bayern's Thomas Mueller, who celebrated a league-record 12th Bundesliga title.
"We conceded an equaliser just as we have done the entire season and then Musiala drills in the winner. That makes you crazy.
"People interested in football have the feeling that we do not deserve this and I clearly say I understand that because of the second half of the season being so chaotic for us.
"But it is still an unbelievable moment. Crazy, electric. I hoped it would happen but did not think it would," Mueller added.
While the title win rescues some silverware in what has been a frustrating season for Bayern, several major German media reported shortly after the final whistle that club chief executive Oliver Kahn, who was not in Cologne, and sports director Hasan Salihamdizic would leave the club.
The surprise sacking of Julian Nagelsmann in late March and the arrival of Thomas Tuchel was not coupled with success with the team crashing out of the German Cup and the Champions League last eight. The Bayern board is due to meet on May 30.
The Bavarians needed a win and Kingsley Coman settled their nerves early on, putting them into the lead with a superbly curled shot into the top corner.
With Dortmund behind from the first half, the Bavarians knew they were now in front and controlled the first half without risking too much.
Leroy Sane did slot in just before the break but his effort did not count following a VAR review for handball.
With Bayern club bosses, including Salihamidzic, nervously checking their mobile phones for the score in Dortmund, Cologne earned an 80th minute penalty and Dejan Ljubicic sent keeper the wrong way to level.
Sane thought he had missed the chance to hand his team the title when he failed to beat the Cologne goalkeeper in the 88th but Musiala did it perfectly a minute later, curling a low drive into the far post in the rollercoaster season ending.
Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title celebrations were quickly overshadowed by the fallout from the club's decision to fire former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić from their positions as top executives.
Bayern secured the German championship in the final minutes of the season on Saturday with Jamal Musiala securing a 2-1 win over Cologne with a late goal for the team to finish ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference.
- Hamilton: Dejection in Dortmund as Bundesliga title dream collapses
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Shortly afterward, the club announced its supervisory board had decided to fire Kahn as chief executive and Salihamidžić as sporting director with immediate effect.
"Instead of celebrating, now we have the next issue," Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said.
Both Kahn and Salihamidžić had been under pressure following Bayern's dip in form this season. The Bundesliga title race was the closest in years after Bayern had comfortably won the previous 10, while there were quarterfinal exits in both the Champions League and German Cup.
Club president Herbert Hainer later said the decision to fire the two men was made Friday --- before the team's unexpected Bundesliga success.
Dortmund were leading by two points going into the final round and just needed to beat Mainz at home Saturday to be sure of becoming German champions. Instead, they only drew 2-2.
Salihamidžić was in Cologne for Bayern's final game, but Kahn didn't travel.
"I wasn't allowed by the club," Kahn wrote on Twitter, contradicting the club's claim that he missed the game on doctor's orders.
Tuchel seemed shocked by the club's decision to fire the men who had brought him to the club as Julian Nagelsmann's replacement in March.
"I knew about it since yesterday. The two were largely responsible for the fact we went on this journey together. That's why I have to process it now," Tuchel said after his team's win. "But I'm assuming that I'll continue on my path at Bayern."
Bayern said supervisory board vice-chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen will take over as CEO from Kahn, while a successor for Salihamidžić still needs to be found.
"The club had the feeling that they had to do something," Bayern veteran Thomas Müller said, "That's what we were told and that's what they've now decided."
Kahn, a former Germany goalkeeper and Bayern captain, returned to the club in 2020 on a 5-year contract, initially as a member of the supervisory board before taking over in 2022 from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as chairman and CEO.
Kahn joined Bayern from Karlsruher SC in 1994 and went on to win eight Bundesliga titles, six German Cups, and the Champions League in 2001. Salihamidžić was his teammate for six of those league titles and four in the cup.
Kahn made 86 appearances for Germany, winning the European Championship in 1996 and finishing World Cup runner-up in 2002. He was named the world's best goalkeeper three times, European goalkeeper of the year four times and German footballer of the year twice.
Salihamidžić became Bayern's sporting director in 2017.
"I would have liked to keep going because I really want to win the Champions League again with this team," Salihamidžić said.
Bayern have called a press conference for Sunday to explain the decision to fire the two men.
Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga title for an 11th consecutive season after a dramatic final day that saw Dortmund crumble under pressure and draw at home to Mainz.
Dortmund entered Saturday's decisive final match two points clear of Bayern, but Edin Terzic's side were stunned in a 2-2 draw following a disastrous first half that saw Mainz go two goals ahead and forward Sebastian Haller miss a penalty.
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Meanwhile, Bayern travelled to Cologne and went ahead inside 10 minutes thanks to an early goal from winger Kingsley Coman.
A late penalty from Cologne midfielder Dejan Ljubicic looked to cause more late drama -- with the title heading to Dortmund as it stood. However, Bayern forward Jamal Musiala netted on 89 minutes to seal a memorable 2-1 victory.
Dortmund scored a stoppage-time equaliser through Niklas Sule but had just seconds to chase a winner, with the final whistle confirming Bayern's 33rd German top-flight title.
It has been a turbulent campaign for the German club as they switched managers during the season, but the March arrival of Thomas Tuchel managed to steer Bayern to yet another league triumph as they continued their decade-long dominance.
For the second half of the campaign, it looked increasingly like the club's reign of dominance was going to end.
Bayern parted ways with manager Julian Nagelsmann back on March 24 and replaced him with Tuchel. At that stage of the season Bayern were locked in a title challenge with Dortmund and RB Leipzig, and in the Champions League. But they crashed out of the European competition at the quarterfinal stage to Manchester City, leaving Tuchel with sole focus on the league with the team exiting the DFB-Pokal at the quarterfinal stage to Freiburg.
Bayern have also endured a series of off-field mishaps this season, including longtime goalkeeper Manuel Neuer breaking his leg while skiing in December after World Cup, as well as the fallout from the departure of goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic in January. In April, star signing Sadio Mane was stood down for a game after an altercation with teammate Leroy Sane after their first-leg defeat to City on April 11.
On the pitch, Bayern sometimes struggled, too. In the penultimate game of the season, Tuchel's side were dealt a major blow to their title hopes in a stunning 3-1 home defeat to RB Leipzig, meaning Dortmund would enter the final day with a two-point advantage.
However, with Dortmund struggling under the pressure Saturday, Bayern were able to seal the championship in the final few minutes of the season and sustain their dominance of German football.
Sammy's checklist: get Russell, Narine, Hetmyer back and rise in rankings
"Well, first thing I'd like to make it known is everyone who plays regional cricket is available or is indicating that they're available for West Indies selection," Sammy said in his first press conference as the white-ball coach. "I've had conversations with both Hetty [Shimron Hetmyer] and Evin Lewis. Having played not too long ago and understanding the complaints of players - and the lack thereof of communication - I think it's important for us to communicate. It sounds simple but I understand that just clear communication makes the process better and it gives you a better understanding. So, yes, I've had in-depth conversations with Shimron and Evin Lewis about their mindset, their plans, and where they see West Indies cricket in line with themselves in [it].
"I must tell you that the feedback has been positive and I've also reached out to guys like Andre Russell. I've reached out to Sunil Narine and all these guys, too, to hear what their thoughts are. Because they still take part in some of our domestic competitions. But it takes honest and mature conversations, which is one I'm not afraid to have with the players. I'm encouraged by the discussions that we've had when it comes to West Indies cricket, outlining clear plans as to how we reintegrate because these players….look at the caliber of Shimron…I'm sure it hurts fans to see him perform elsewhere and not in the maroon."
"For someone who didn't have the desire to go into coaching, they're more of coaches I've worked with - whether in franchise cricket or the West Indies team or the different teams I've played," Sammy said. "I've garnered so much knowledge that I could implement for myself. Ottis Gibson and I are quite close. We've always been in contact from way before he came into the set-up and we had a very good relationship, in terms of planning our cricket and how we presented to our guys.
"I also worked with Phil and we won a championship together, so everybody has their own styles. For me, all what I've garnered and now putting all this into my style but my way is not the highway. It's incorporating everybody to pull in one direction and try to get results for our team. And try to inspire the next generation of cricketers and our fans."
Sammy: WI are not 'far off' from being an elite team
"Numbers don't lie. We're No. 9 [10] and No. 8 [7] respectively," Sammy said. "We're there for a reason, and we've not been consistent enough, but then when I look at the data ahead of me - what we've done in the last five years, where we've been losing games in different stages… Man, we're not far off, and that excites me. When I say I try to build an elite team, I look at what openers are doing around the world overseas, we're not far off. Different stages of the game where spin is killing us between overs 11-40, you know areas we could improve.
"When I look at the one percenters, if we could improve on certain areas and just be more aware of the situation, probably a different mindset and better skills and better execution, we're not far off. If we could build on these things and improve the small goals that I have for the team...we want to start improving on our rankings by the time our year ends. We want to finish in the top eight next year and start taking these little steps."
Cross, Lamb among wickets before Heap guides Thunder chase
Thunder 119 for 3 (Heap 46) beat Sunrisers 116 for 8 (Griffith 36, Cross 2-20, Lamb 2-24) by seven wickets
All three are in contention to play in this summer's home Ashes from next month and shared five wickets to limit Sunrisers to 116 for 8 having elected to bat, laying the platform for a seven-wicket win with 21 balls remaining.
They were miserly with either seam or spin, with Cross's 2 for 20 from four overs of seam the most encouraging having battled against a tropical disease in recent weeks. Ecclestone struck once with her left-arm spin and Lamb twice with her offspin.
This was Thunder's first victory in eight 50-over and T20 matches in 2023, including back-to-back defeats at the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup. For Sunrisers, they have now played three and lost three in this competition.
Cross, who recently revealed that she had to go through nine courses of antibiotics to treat an illness picked up abroad in pre-season, set the tone with the second ball of only her fifth match of the season.
She uprooted the off stump of former South Africa international Dane van Niekerk for nought, a peach of an away-swinger leaving Sunrisers at 0 for 1.
Crucially, only one other batter, Flo Miller from No. 7, reached 20. She was bowled by former team-mate Naomi Dattani in the final over an innings which saw Thunder captain Ellie Threlkeld chop and change through seven different bowlers to deny Sunrisers any rhythm on the same pitch used for Thursday's T20 double-header day.
While Lamb returned 2 for 24 from her four overs, Ecclestone was the most economical bowler on show with 21for 14 from her four.
Her wicket of Amara Carr caught at mid-off following a miscue was sandwiched in between the two Lamb strikes as Sunrisers slumped to 81 for 6 in the 15th over. Lamb had Grace Scrivens caught at cover and bowled Jo Gardner.
Lamb later gave Thunder the ideal start to what proved a serene chase, clipping a boundary through midwicket as 10 came from Kate Coppack's first over.
Both openers played their shots, and Heap made the most of being dropped on 16. Thunder reached 50 without loss after seven overs, by which time the game was only going one way.
Heap maintained pace with her more experienced partner and overtook her after Lamb had been trapped lbw sweeping at captain Kelly Castle's offspin - leaving Thunder 64 for 1 in the 10th over.
Morris flicked the offspin of Mady Villiers to short fine leg shortly afterwards, leaving the score at 74 for 2 in the 11th, but Heap gained support from West Indian overseas Deandra Dottin to get their side over the line.
Unbeaten Dottin crashed two big straight sixes in 26 off 15 balls, while Heap was bowled by Eva Gray just shy of 50 with only 10 to win.
Fleming: 'Excited but nervous' CSK mentally in better place now
"We're excited, but there's a bit of nervousness as well," Fleming said at the pre-final press conference. "It's a big stage, a big occasion, and there's a lot of work that goes into getting to this point. We're proud of what we've done, and we're looking forward to the opportunity."
Fleming was asked to elaborate on why he felt there was nervousness. After all, CSK have won four titles, next only to Mumbai Indians, who have five. Shouldn't there be an air of intimidation about them, then?
"It's a big occasion, the game doesn't change, but the outcome does; it's really hard not to look too far ahead," Fleming explained. "And the dream is of winning it again, right from the coach to a guy who hasn't played a game. To be part of that [final] is what we set out to do at the start, that's our purpose. Trying to contain that excitement and trying to stay in the present is one of the great challenges as we get towards the end of the tournament.
"We've got to stay very present against Gujarat, one of the most consistent sides in the tournament. They're an excellent side, and we can't afford to dream too much, but this is why we're here. The excitement levels and the nerves of the big stage slowly simmer away, but it's a good thing to have, it's just how you work with them in your system.
"We've worked very hard at that. We've got some good people around us. We look forward to this challenge, but you have to have a certain level of anxiety and nervousness to be at your best, I guess. It's about how you manage that and how quickly you can sync into the game. That's what we will be looking to do."
"It's a big process," Fleming started. "What I will say is margins between success and failure have gotten closer and closer each year. We may have been ninth [in 2022] or seventh [in 2020], and you look back, and there are a number of games that could've gone differently. Maybe, last-ball finishes or a great performance. So they're small defining moments that determine where you finish on the log.
"It's just getting closer and closer as teams get smarter about the players they pick or conditions they play in. This year's been no different, it's been the hardest. Each team you come up against it feels like an incredibly difficult challenge. The thing we're really proud of is that when we've had a bad season, we've been able to bounce back.
"A part of it is to do with how we finish a bad season. We're always looking for the positives, giving players opportunities that we can work into the following year; we don't write it off. There are a lot of things to learn when a season goes well, but equally, a lot more things to learn when it doesn't. So, we're always looking to get better.
"We are realistic about how difficult it is to get to this stage. That's why we are proud of our record of being consistent over a period of time. We've been able to put performances together under pressure when we've been in form and when we've been out of form or when we've got new players. The greatest challenge of this competition is when you get a new team that's going really well, you've got to disband, and you can only keep four players. The fact that we've been able to stay consistent with those rules in place is something we look back very proudly on."
Fleming also underlined how playing on different types of surfaces in Chennai this time, as against playing on just the one kind of surface that they're accustomed to at home, has geared them up to be a better team away.
"[In the past] we geared ourselves up for Chennai so well that we struggled in different conditions at times in the away games," Fleming said. "So, the finals are always a little bit of a challenge, our record is about 50% [won four, lost five finals] maybe, that's due to the style of game that we created.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
World Cup schedule to be unveiled during World Test Championship final
A total of 48 matches, including the three knockout games, are set to be played across the 46-day period. Ahmedabad aside, the original shortlist of cities on BCCI list comprised: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai and Trivandrum. It is understood that Nagpur and Pune, too, are under consideration. It is likely that the league matches will be hosted across 10 cities, with two more cities staging the warm-up fixtures preceding the main tournament.
Asia Cup to be formally discussed at ACC meeting
The biggest challenge about the hybrid model concerns the travel involved. Shah said "two or three countries" had sent in their views, which will be formally discussed at the ACC meeting in the next ten days.
Shah said, in his capacity as ACC chairman, he wanted the Asia Cup to go ahead this year. The tournament has not been be hosted in Pakistan or India since 2008 due to the political differences between both countries.
Ireland enjoy Essex workout with Paul Stirling century, Lorcan Tucker 97
Essex 343 and 59 for 2 (Das 27*, Hume 2-14) trail Ireland 419 (Stirling 107, Tucker 97, McBrine 67, Richards 5-96) by 17 runs
Stirling, who scored his first Test hundred in Galle last month, had been expected to miss the game against England because of a deal to play in the Blast for Birmingham Bears, but was picked in the squad after a change of heart.
He only joined the tour match in Chelmsford on Saturday, having turned out for Birmingham in Leicester less than 24 hours previously, and was quickly making the adjustment to facing a red ball after walking out in the sixth over of the morning.
However, Stirling and Tucker set about repairing the damage with a stand that was eventually worth 175 in 30.1 overs.
Stirling brought up his half-century first, from 63 balls, with Tucker getting to the mark from 61 balls shortly after. Tucker, the wicketkeeper-batter, then accelerated towards a century with a flurry of boundaries, but required treatment for an arm problem on 96 and then cut tamely to backward point a few balls later.
After ban, Boone hopes to find 'line' with umps
NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he will not stop fighting for his team but acknowledged he might need to be more mindful of not crossing a line with umpires.
"No, I'm not going to change," Boone said Saturday as he returned from a one-game suspension following his third ejection in the past two weeks. "Even though I have been kicked out of a lot of games, a lot of them I make it through. So maybe just being better at knowing where that line is."
In handing down the suspension and fine Friday, Michael Hill, Major League Baseball's senior vice president for on-field operations, said the discipline was "for his recent conduct toward major league umpires, including the actions following his ejection from Thursday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles."
"Seemed to be a little bit of a change of direction there, but look, I got kicked out a few times in a week," Boone said. "I don't want that. Certainly they don't want that, but you know just kind of move from it."
Boone was ejected for an MLB-high fourth time this season when he became infuriated with plate umpire Edwin Moscoso's strike zone during a 3-1 loss. During the argument in the middle of the third inning, Boone held up four fingers, signaling he believed Moscoso missed four pitches.
Boone also was angry that Moscoso walked away during the argument and first-base umpire Chris Guccione, the crew chief, stood between the two when Boone tried to reengage Moscoso. Boone might have gotten spit on an umpire while arguing.
Boone's four ejections are one more than the Reds' David Bell and the Cardinals' Oliver Marmol. Boone led the majors with nine last season, when no other manager had more than five.
On May 15, Boone was thrown out by Clint Vondrak in the eighth inning in Toronto when he argued a 1-1 pitch to Aaron Judge and prolonged the argument. Before exiting to the dugout, Boone took gum out of his mouth and flung it at some of the padding at Rogers Centre.
On Sunday in Cincinnati, he was tossed in the first inning by Emil Jimenez for arguing that Jonathan India should not have been allowed to score on a hit by Spencer Steer that right fielder Jake Bauers nearly caught but allowed to bounce off his glove. Steer's hit was initially ruled foul by first-base umpire Nestor Ceja, but the call was overturned in a video review.
"A couple of these I don't necessarily think I should have been tossed, but I'll be mindful of it and try and stay in games [while] fighting for what I think's important and keep an edge when I walk out there," said Boone, who watched Friday's 5-1 loss to the San Diego Padres from general manager Brian Cashman's suite.
Boone's 30 career ejections are sixth among current managers, even though his 761 games entering Saturday were far fewer than those who have more ejections: Bruce Bochy (78 in 4,082 games), Bob Melvin (55 in 2,831), Terry Francona (47 in 3,510), Bud Black (35 in 2,284) and Buck Showalter (34 in 3,283).
Boone is averaging an ejection every 25 games, a significantly faster pace than Bochy and Melvin (52), Black (65), Francona (75) and Showalter (97).
Luton reach Prem for 1st time after shootout win
Luton Town will play in the Premier League for the first time after beating Coventry City 6-5 on penalties in Saturday's Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium, earning a return to England's top flight after a 31-year absence.
Coventry's Fankaty Dabo blazed his spot kick over the crossbar after the shootout went into sudden death following a 1-1 draw and a tense but goalless period of extra time, when Luton's Joe Taylor had a late goal disallowed due to handball.
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A second-half equaliser from Coventry midfielder Gustavo Hamer cancelled out Jordan Clark's brilliant opener, after Luton captain Tom Lockyer was carried off on a stretcher early on after he collapsed on the pitch.
Luton confirmed Lockyer, 28, is responsive and talking to his family after he was taken to hospital for tests. The centre back had fallen to the ground with no player around him and was treated by medical staff on the pitch.
"It feels incredible," Luton manager Rob Edwards said. "I've got to be honest, the only thing I'm thinking about now is Tom Lockyer... Health is the most important thing, more important than football."
Luton will join Burnley and Sheffield United in next season's Premier League. Their Kenilworth Road stadium will host top-flight soccer for the first time since 1992, when they were relegated from the Football League First Division.
Saturday's victory caps a remarkable change in fortunes for Luton, who were playing in the fifth-tier Conference nine years ago after a decade of financial hardship. They are the first team to go from the top tier to non-league and back.
"I've completed football! I'll retire this summer," said Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, who has played for Luton at every level on their dizzying rise.
"It's been a journey, through the highs and lows but you've got to believe in yourself. Here I am, a Premier League player."
Luton largely dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead in the 23rd minute through Clark, who was set up by Elijah Adebayo and took one touch before firing home a left-footed shot.
They also had two goals disallowed before the break but a much-improved Coventry drew level thanks to a quick counter just after the hour mark.
Viktor Gyokeres streamed down the left side and picked out Hamer in the box. The midfielder made a bursting run to meet the pass and side-footed the ball into the corner with a sublime finish.
Luton, who finished third in the Championship and beat Sunderland in their play-off semi-final, sealed promotion when Coventry's Dabo sent his penalty off-target after the previous 11 takers had all scored their spot kicks.
"It was our day, which was great, but I do feel for them as well," Edwards said.
"A lot of emotions going on right now, but I'm incredibly proud."
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