Record-breaking Bayern Munich clinch Bundesliga crown

It was a day of records for Bayern Munich, but the German football club’s mission is only one-third complete.

Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt gave the Bavarian side a record-extending 22nd title since the elite division was formed in 1963, and 23rd national championship overall.

With six games still to play, it marked the earliest clinching of the title – and made Bayern the first team of any of the major European leagues to be crowned this season. The club had previously twice triumphed with four games left, in 1973 and 2003.

Jupp Heynckes, who is 68 next month, became the oldest coach to win the league in what will be his second and final season in charge in his third spell at the club.

Former Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola will take over at the end of this campaign, but before then Heynckes is hoping to complete an unprecedented treble of the German Cup and European Champions League – and make amends for the disappointment of losing last year’s final in Munich.

Read: Bayern put nine past Hamburg

“The fact that we have won the title after 28 games is extraordinary, it’s simply fantastic,” Heynckes told reporters.

“One of the things FC Bayern have demonstrated this season is that we’re a top side, but we have done it with harmony in the team.

“We can be confident we will achieve something in the Champions League.”

Bayern already have one foot in the semifinals of Europe’s top club competition, taking a 2-0 lead to Italy for Wednesday’s second leg against Juventus.

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the only goal in Frankfurt to earn Bayern’s 24th win in 28 league games this season, leaving the team 20 points clear of second-placed two-time defending champions Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern’s David Alaba missed a 26th-minute penalty, hitting a post after midweek scorer Thomas Muller was fouled, but Schweinsteiger scored seven minutes after halftime with a backheel from Philipp Lahm’s cross to dent the home side’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

It was Bayern’s 11th successive league victory since the winter break – the first time a Bundesliga team has won so many in a row in one season. It also means Bayern will have led the Bundesliga from start to finish for the fifth time – no other club has done it even once.

Dortmund came from behind to win 4-2 at home to third-bottom Augsburg, with striker Julian Schieber scoring twice in a rare start as coach Jurgen Klopp rested key players ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League home clash with Spanish club Malaga with the quarterfinal tie poised at 0-0.

Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen dropped six points behind Dortmund after being held 1-1 at home by Wolfsburg, while Schalke went three points above Frankfurt with a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen.

Borussia Monchengladbach went seventh with a 1-0 win over Greuther Furth that left the visiting team rock bottom and nine points adrift in the battle to avoid automatic relegation.

Hamburg’s European hopes were hit by a 1-0 home defeat by Freiburg, which followed last weekend’s 9-2 thrashing by Bayern.

It moved Freiburg above Frankfurt into fifth place on goal difference.