The 34th and final round of the Bundesliga ended this afternoon with interesting clashes across the land. It has been known for some time now that Bayer Leverkusen are champions but today they became the first side in league history to complete an undefeated season as Die Werkself beat Augsburg on the final day, taking their all-time European record unbeaten streak to a remarkable 51 matches across all competitions.Another big hit in the German top-tier this season was Stuttgart, powered by Serhou Guirassy, who ended a sensational Bundesliga campaign on a high as they leapfrogged Bayern Munich into second place thanks to a 4-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach at the MHPArena, extending their unbeaten home run to 12 games.Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund ended their season with a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Darmstadt, as BVB prepare for the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Last but not least, Andrej Kramarić’s hat-trick took Hoffenheim to a sensational 4-2 comeback win against Bayern Munich, with Thomas Tuchel’s final match for the Bavarians ending in their first defeat in seven head-to-head encounters against Die Kraichgauer.BREAKING: Bayer Leverkusen have become invincible Bundesliga champions, after beating Augsburg in their final game of the season 🏆✅ pic.twitter.com/0d8CkaULuq— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 18, 2024 History beckoned amidst a party atmosphere at the BayArena, with the home fans eagerly anticipating watching their history-making squad lift the Meisterschale after full-time. Manager Xabi Alonso has insisted the parties will have to wait until after their two cup finals in the next week, with his determination to complete an invincible season clear from the strength of his team selection.Leverkusen didn’t have things their own way early on however, as they struggled to break down Augsburg’s low block. That all changed when the visitors’ stand-in goalkeeper Tomáš Koubek inexplicably squandered possession inside his 18-yard box, with Amine Adli – the man who won the ball back – unselfishly squaring for Victor Boniface to do the honours into an empty net. That lead was doubled before the half-hour in flamboyant fashion by Robert Andrich, who delicately flicked home the loose ball after Jonathan Tah’s effort was blocked.Guarding against complacency was the order of the day for Leverkusen after the break, but after surviving a couple of warnings, 18-year-old Mert Kömür punished the champions with a delightful curling finish – his first in the Bundesliga – which halved the deficit. That opened the game up, with Patrik Schick and Andrich both coming close to restoring the hosts’ two-goal lead, before Koubek made a tremendous save to deny Granit Xhaka.Florian Wirtz was next to be denied, as Koubek’s outstretched hand denied the German midfielder an open goal. To their credit, Augsburg continued to offer a threat at the other end, but the Bundesliga’s best defence held firm as they closed out the most incredible of Bundesliga campaigns with yet another victory. The UEFA Europa League final in Dublin in midweek now beckons, as Leverkusen look to close out a treble of trophies that would write their name into football’s history books.Meanwhile in Stuttgart, in an entertaining first half, both teams had chances to open the scoring in the early stages, as Alassane Pléa – who is yet to score in 2024 – was denied well by Alexander Nübel, before Waldemar Anton failed to open his Bundesliga account for the season with two bullet headers. Buoyed by hearing that second-placed Bayern Munich had taken an early lead at Hoffenheim, the hosts started to gain control, and found the breakthrough. Who else but Serhou Guirassy to open the scoring for the 12th time this season, as he headed home his 27th league goal from close range, connecting well with Enzo Millot’s cross.Just eight minutes later, the striker netted again, as he turned his defender well before striking left-footed towards goal, with Gladbach keeper Jonas Omlin finding the ball too hot to handle. Guirassy was denied his hat-trick by the width of the crossbar – the 19th time Stuttgart have struck the woodwork this term – after Jamie Leweling had done the same a few minutes earlier. The visitors were really struggling at this point, but should have pulled a goal back before halftime, as Nathan Ngoumou’s goal-bound effort was amazingly blocked by Hiroki Itō.Gladbach took that momentum into the second half, as Pléa was denied his first goal of the year by Nübel’s outstretched leg. However, Stuttgart grew into the half again, and Deniz Undav was determined to add to his 18 league goals. The German, who has recently been called up to the provisional national team squad for Euro 2024, saw his long-range strike tipped behind by Omlin on the hour-mark. After news broke that Hoffenheim had equalised against Bayern, the Swabians seemingly had a spring in their step, and substitute Jeong Woo-yeong scored just his second goal for the club – with his first incidentally coming against Bayern – striking at the back post after Guirassy’s lay-off.Another substitute, Silas, then saved the best goal for last, as his mazy dribble was met by an outrageous finish into the near post to put some gloss on the scoreline. More cheers rang around the stadium as the home crowd heard that Bayern were remarkably now losing 4-2 to Hoffenheim, meaning Stuttgart would steal second place on the final day – their best Bundesliga finish in 17 years. Maximilian Mittelstädt even had time to strike the post late on, as the Swabians cruised to an emphatic victory that seals the most unlikely of top-two finishes, while Gladbach’s winless run extended to six matches.At Westfalenstadion, with their Champions League spot for next season already tied up, Dortmund went into their final domestic game with nothing to play for other than using it as a fine-tuning exercise ahead of their showpiece final in two weeks’ time. Darmstadt also had their destiny determined, with a relegation to Germany’s second tier confirmed. Right from the off, the hosts got off to a dominant start with Marco Reus looking dangerous in his last appearance as a Dortmund player at Signal Iduna Park.The away side weathered the Schwarzgelben storm that was peppering their goal until the half-hour mark when Ian Maatsen was fed by Reus on the edge of the box, allowing the full-back to drill a low effort into the bottom corner. That was the breakthrough moment as the hosts doubled their lead eight minutes later, and this time the creator turned goalscorer as Reus curled a sublime free-kick over the wall to give Edin Terzić’s side a 2-0 lead going into the break.Following the restart, the same theme continued with one-way traffic towards the Darmstadt goal as the home side went in search of a third goal to end the contest. Karim Adeyemi came close to delivering that just before the hour mark but his effort was superbly saved by Marcel Schuhen. The Dortmund boss turned to his bench and one of those introduced, Julian Brandt, made an immediate impact, curling a shot inside the post to net the third Dortmund goal after being picked out by Jadon Sancho in the box.Marco Reus está jugando su último partido en el Signal Iduna Park y la hinchada de Borussia Dortmund lo recibió así.Tremendo. 😳🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/JP92NJSoZ7— Ataque Futbolero (@AtaqueFutbolero) May 18, 2024 Marco Reus deixa o campo com o estádio de pé. A última dança agora será em Wembley. pic.twitter.com/RSjvDLBE5F— Arthur Quezada (@ArthurQuezada) May 18, 2024 The Signal Iduna Park came to a standing ovation 10 minutes from time as Reus made his way from the pitch to a guard of honour as he marked his final Bundesliga appearance as a Dortmund player with a goal and assist. With emotions running high in the stands, the game petered out with the hosts completing the rout with a fourth goal in the 88th minute as Donyell Malen pounced on a loose ball in the box to tap home and complete a simple afternoon. Die Schwarzgelben finish the campaign in fifth place while Darmstadt remain bottom of the league.The dethroned Bavarians had a nightmare afternoon against Hoffenheim. Not only did they finish the season trophyless but they ended the campaign at third place. Only Köln and Darmstadt had taken fewer points at home than Hoffenheim going into this contest, and they got off to the worst possible start this time around. On the day Thomas Müller equalled Sepp Maier’s club record of 473 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern, the 34-year-old cut the ball back for Mathys Tel to head home his 10th goal across all competitions this term. Bayern scored again almost immediately, with Tel turning provider for Alphonso Davies to slide in his second goal in the last three – having scored once before that all season.Manuel Neuer gifted Hoffenheim a route back into the game with a poor pass, and Kramarić sorted his feet to tee up Maximilian Beier for the game’s third goal in the opening eight minutes. While the match remained open, the goals dried up with Neuer atoning for that error twice around the half-hour mark, denying Beier then saving Eric Dier’s blushes by stopping Ihlas Bebou’s attempt. There was still a blow for the visitors as Aleksandar Pavlović limped off, and his replacement Lovro Zvonarek provided a lovely touch before Müller’s effort was deflected wide. Kramarić then had a massive opportunity in the first half’s final moments thanks to a lung-bursting run from Beier, only to send a tame effort straight at Neuer.The second half was more measured, but Davies came close again with his shot deflecting marginally over off Ozan Kabak before Müller sent his attempt off-target following some patient Bayern build-up. Kramarić’s venomous strike then forced Neuer into an impressive save, but the Croatia international wasn’t to be denied again as a quick throw culminated in Bebou squaring the ball for him to bravely convert his fourth goal in as many games. The hosts continued to show intent with a David Jurásek strike from outside the box, while another deflected Davies shot troubled Baumann at the other end.Kramarić then completed the comeback with a strike that crept inside the post, then capitalised on more loose play from Bayern to secure his hat-trick goal a mere two minutes later to send the PreZero Arena into rapturous celebrations. Hoffenheim needed another goal from RB Leipzig against Eintracht to take sixth place but it never arrived, although Die Kraichgauer still have European football for the first time since 2020/21. The defeat inflicted on Bayern means they finish outside of the Bundesliga’s top two for the first time since 2010/11.There you go, ladies and gentlemen – a historic year in German league football has ended with a fiery final matchday. Due to great performances in European competitions, Bundesliga clubs have secured five spots in the Champions League, the Leverkusen Pharmacists have finally broken the curse thanks to their messiah Xabi Alonso, Guirassy and Sebastian Hoennes carried Stuttgart to an incredible result while Dortmund have a chance to bring more even more respect and credit to German club football.BUNDESLIGA – FINAL MATCHDAYSaturdayLeverkusen – Augsburg 2-1 (2-0)/Boniface 12, Andrich 27 – Komur 62/Dortmund – Darmstadt 4-0 (2-0)/Maatsen 30, Reus 38, Brandt 72, malen 88/Eintr.Frankfurt – RB Leipzig 2-2 (0-1)/Ekitike 60, Marmoush 77 pen – Simons 42 pen, Sesko 46/Heidenheim – Koln 4-1 (3-0)/Dinkci 16, 22, Sessa 36, Beste 79 – Tigges 64/Hoffenheim – Bayern 4-2 (1-2)/Beier 8, Kramaric 68, 85, 87 – Tel 4, Davies 6/Union Berlin – Freiburg 2-1 (0-0)/Hollerbach 68, Haberer 90+2 pen – Doan 85/Stuttgart – M’ gladbach 4-0 (2-0)/Guirassy 23, 32, Jeong 76, Silas 83/Werder – Bochum 4-1 (1-0)/Friedl 6, Jung 78, Stage 80, Schmid 88 – Antwi-Adjei 85/Wolfsburg – Mainz 1-3 (1-1)/Paredes 18 – Gruda 24, van der Berg 71, Burkardt 85/
