Having already clinched the league title, Bayern's 4-1 home victory on the final match day of this Bundesliga season was inspired by the retirements of Xabi Alonso and Philipp Lahm.
SC Freiburg could have qualified for the Europa League with a win, so the stakes were certainly high for them. However, Bayern's quality was too much to overcome, and Alonso and Lahm went out with a win.
There it is!
A pair of United States youth internationals are being given the opportunity to make their Bundesliga debuts for Schalke 04 this weekend. Haji Wright, 19, and Weston McKennie, 18, have received promotions to Schalke's first team squad for their final match of the Bundesliga season on Saturday against Ingolstadt.
48' > WESTON MCKINNIE!! FCD takes a 3-0 lead as the midfielder's volley dribbles over the line! pic.twitter.com/OASVUlv9Hg
The massively experienced Bibiana Steinhaus, who will officiate this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final, has been promoted to refereeing the Bundesliga after six seasons in the second division. Steinhaus will become the first female referee in the history of the Bundesliga when she officiates a match next season.
With European league seasons winding down, summer transfer speculation has begun in earnest with what you'd expect:
Marc Bartra, the only player with serious injuries after Borussia Dortmund's team bus was bombed before their Champions League match against Monaco last month, is back in training.
Bartra's injuries were to his right hand and arm, but he and the team are lucky things weren't worse.
Guadlajara native Marco Fabian has scored four goals in the past four games for Eintracht Frankfurt. Fabian's good form has helped Eintracht Frankfurt into the DFB-Pokal final, where they will face Borussia Dortmund on May 27th.
Fabian and Eintracht Frankfurt will be looking for some revenge, as the last time these two teams played Dortmund won 3-1.
The 14-point gap separating rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga was never going to be a factor here. Even the home advantage Bayern enjoyed at the Allianz Arena in this DFB-Pokal semifinal was no reason to believe that this latest version of Der Klassiker had a clear favorite.
According to various media reports, police in Germany have determined that the attack on Borussia Dortmund's bus ast week, which injured defender Marc Bartra, was likely carried out by far-right extremists. At first, it was believed the attack was the work of Islamic terrorists, but several inconsistencies have indicated the attack was meant to sway public opinion against Muslims.
From The Times:
Frauke Koehle, a spokeswoman for Germany’s federal state prosecutor in Karlsruhe, has confirmed that the three explosives that were detonated outside the Borussia Dortmund team bus were pipe bombs capable of traveling more than 330 feet. One of the three explosive devices contained metal strips, according to prosecutors, including one pin that pierced a headrest of a bus seat.