Bayern Munich Has All But Secured Its 34th Title! What Happens Next?

Bayern Munich has all but secured its 34th German championship. On Saturday, the Rekordmeister overcame a 2-0 deficit to draw RB Leipzig 3-3 to all but reclaim the title from Bayer Leverkusen. It is the 12th Bundesliga title in the last 13 years, underscoring Bayern’s dominance over German football.

Although not secured, it really is just a matter of mathematics. With one game in hand, Bayern is now nine points ahead of Leverkusen, who will play against top-four contender SC Freiburg tomorrow. Should Leverkusen draw or lose that game, Bayern’s title is secured. But even if Leverkusen wins the match, it would take a six-point and 30-goal swing in two games. Everyone who knows a bit of the game knows it is over.

As for Bayern, today’s result against RB Leipzig was a good metaphor for the Rekordmeister’s season. Benjamin Sesko (11’) and Lukas Klostermann (39’) gave Leipzig a very much deserved 2-0 lead after 45 minutes. Forty-five minutes in which Bayern was dominated and perhaps a bit lucky to be down by just two goals.

During that stretch, the camera often cut to English star Harry Kane, who witnessed his team falling apart in front of his eyes. That stretch showed everything that had gone wrong this season and why the club will celebrate just one out of three possible titles.

After all, Leipzig cut through Bayern’s defense like it didn’t exist. A couple of touches from the back, and Xavi Simons, Lois Openda, and Sesko managed to get through Bayern’s defense without any issues. A defense, that new head coach Vincent Kompany has done a very good job of repairing at the start of the season.

Ultimately, Bayern’s biggest problem this season wasn’t the quality of the backline but rather injuries. Without the injured Dayot Upamecano, Hiroki Ito, Min-Jae Kim, Alphonso Davies, and Raphaël Guerreiro, the Bayern backline against Leipzig consisted of Konrad Laimer, Josip Stanisic, Eric Dier, and Sasha Boey.

Even though Dier—who like Kane has never won a club title—would be a hero in the second half, the backline consisting of those four isn’t anywhere near the level of a club with Champions League ambitions. Boey seemed to struggle. The wing-back signed for €30 million ($34 million) from Galatasaray, once again didn’t look like a Bundesliga-level player.

Fortunately for Bayern, even without the injured Jamal Musiala and suspended Kane, the attack is one of the best in European football. Michael Olise and Leroy Sané, who is on the verge of signing a new contract after an outstanding season, managed to turn around the second half in a matter of a few minutes.

It all started after Dier scored a header from a corner (62’). One minute later, Serge Gnabry overran the Leipzig defense to find Olise, who equalized with a brilliant finish. Finally, with just seven minutes to go, Sané scored his 11th goal of the season to give Bayern the lead.

At that point, Kane had made his way down to the touchline to prepare for the possible title celebrations. But in typical fashion for this season, the game wasn’t quite won for Bayern. Literally, with the final chance of the game, Yussuf Poulsen equalized.

As described earlier in the article, that goal will only delay the inevitable. Bayern has all but secured the title and could indeed celebrate from the couch as early as tomorrow. Even if Leverkusen beats Freiburg, a win or draw against Gladbach will also provide mathematical certainty next week.

With the title all but secured, it is now time to look back. As alluded to, the game today provides Bayern with some important lessons. The injuries to Musiala and an entire backline worth of defenders meant that the Rekordmeister fell short in the Champions League this season.

Indeed, the European campaign must be seen critically. When everyone is fit, Kompany has improved this defense. But there is also the fact that Bayern lost their record dominance in the Champions League group stage, and although the club put up a good fight, the exit against Inter Milan was more than deserved.

That exit, particularly, hurts as Bayern hosts the Champions League final this season. But to return to European dominance, the Rekordmeister will have to strengthen the defense. It, therefore, makes sense that the club is looking to add to the backline and has been linked to Jonathan Tah (Leverkusen) and Ko Itakura (Gladbach) in recent weeks.

Up front, the Bayern bosses will have to find a viable alternative to Kane. The English striker needs a backup to ensure he is fit to play the big games at the tail end of the season. Although Sané is now set to stay, Bayern is looking to move on from Gnabry and Kingsley Coman and will have to add more attacking players as a result.

The big solution remains Florian Wirtz. Signing Wirtz has become more realistic in the last week as his family is leaning toward joining Bayern. But one player won’t be enough, and signing Wirtz would make it difficult for Bayern to bring in additional personnel, especially in midfield, where the club also needs strengthening as they look to move on from Leon Goretzka.

Those are all big questions for the director of sport, Max Eberl, and sporting director Christoph Freund to answer. For now, the club will certainly pop one or two bottles of champagne in secret in the dressing room before the big Weißbier celebrations at the Allianz Arena next week.