Bundesliga: seven good reasons Bayern will clinch an eighth straight title

Victory over closest challengers Dortmund on Tuesday put Flick's squad on course for another Bundesliga shield

Bayern Munich's French forward Kingsley Coman controls the ball during his team's 1-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga clash at Westfalenstadion on Tuesday, May 26. AFP

Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies is shown a yellow card by referee Tobias Stieler. Reuters

Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard in action with Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek. Reuters

Dortmund's German midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud shoots at Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. AFP

Dortmund manager Lucien Favre. EPA

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic wearing a face mask. Reuters

Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich in action against Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Axel Witsel. EPA

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, right, and Joshua Kimmich celebrate after the 1-0 victory. EPA

Bayern Munich's German forward Thomas Muller plays the ball. AFP

Referee Tobias Stieler speaks with Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick. AFP

Dortmund's Swiss goalkeeper Roman Buerki makes a save. AFP

Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski, left, and Dortmund's German defender Mats Hummels. AFP

Bayern Munich' manager Hansi Flick, right, and Borussia Dortmund counterpart Lucien Favre. AFP

Dortmund's German midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud shoots. AFP

Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry in action with Borussia Dortmund's Thomas Delaney. Reuters

Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich (not pictured) scores against Borussia Dortmund. Reuters

Bayern Munich players celebrate with Joshua Kimmich. AFP

Bayern players celebrate taking the lead against Dortmund. EPA

Bayern Munich's David Alaba and Alphonso Davies in action with Borussia Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard. Reuters

Borussia Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland in action. Reuters

Bayern Munich's German midfielder Joshua Kimmich takes a throw in. AFP

Bayern Munich head coach Hans-Dieter Flick. AFP

General view inside Signal Iduna Park. Reuters

Bayern Munich's German forward Thomas Muller, right, and Dortmund's Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi vie for the ball. AFP

Bayern Munich’s 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund appears to all but crown them German champions. With six games to play, their strongest rivals now sit seven points behind. That’s seven good reasons to believe in an eighth consecutive Bayern title. Here’s seven more things we learned about Bayern’s formidable efficiency.

1). Bayern are consummate experts at closing down a title chase

Could this one slip? Highly unlikely. The last time they were involved in a really tight race, last season, their 5-0 pummelling of Borussia Dortmund, on the same matchday 28, was a turning point. They then dropped four points from their last possible 18 after that, but finished two ahead of Dortmund.

In every other title-winning season since 2013, they have finished at least 10 points ahead of the runners-up. Although they have testing fixtures against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach in early June, positive results in those would effectively remove any lingering title ambitions held by Monchengladbach or Leverkusen.

2). Bayern’s veterans are back to their best

Just over 14 months ago, Germany head coach Jogi Low told Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller, 2014 World Cup winners, they were no longer in the national team’s plans. They were shocked.

A season later, the duo can count up their contributions to Bayern's likely title in dozens of points. Defender Boateng's goal-line clearance in the opening seconds at Dortmund is alone worth two (although he had some luck later when VAR was not asked to look at a possible handball). Muller's 17 assists make him the top provider in the Bundesliga.

Thomas Muller scores Bayern Munich's second goal against Eintracht Frankfurt. AP

Thomas Muller controls the ball during Bayern Munich's game against Eintracht Frankfurt. EPA

Thomas Muller celebrates after scoring Bayern Munich's second goal. AP

Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller with Manuel Neuer after the win over Frankfurt. Reuters

Thomas Muller with Eintracht Frankfurt's Erik Durm after the match. Reuters

Jadon Sancho replaces Julian Brandt during Borussia Dortmund's game against Wolfsburg. PA Wire

Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland celebrate Dortmund's second goal scored by Achraf Hakimi. Reuters

Jadon Sancho chases the ball down during a game against Schalke. AFP

Jadon Sancho during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. AP Photo

Jadon Sancho runs with the ball during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin. Getty Images

3). Switched-on Flick

When Hansi Flick was appointed Bayern’s interim head coach, following the sacking of Niko Kovac in November, they were in danger of slipping outside the top four. Flick started well, then stumbled through successive defeats, but in his 18 matches in charge since, Bayern have won 17 and drawn one. At Dortmund, his approach was sober but, ultimately, Bayern were commanding. Flick carried the authority of a permanent, long-term head coach well before the club formally made him that last month.

4). On the wings, with flair

This is the first Bayern season for a decade without legendary wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. Is Bayern's style narrower in their absence? Far from it. With Alphonso Davies' speed, Kingsley Coman's acceleration and the crossing excellence of Muller and Joshua Kimmich, Bayern are devastating from wide positions and were threatening enough on the flanks that Dortmund's adventurous full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Raphael Guerreiro, looked unusually inhibited. 
It may not get any easier for opponents, either. Bayern still want Leroy Sane to join them.

Manchester City's Leroy Sane is a long-term target of Bayern Munich's. Manchester City FC via Getty Images

5). A spirit of improvisation

Kimmich described his match-winning goal at Dortmund as "the best I have scored", a cute chip aimed to drop just far enough behind Roman Burki for the goalkeeper to reach at it, but not to save. Kimmich called it "relatively spontaneous". It's a revealing phrase. Bayern had been working in training on the possibility Burki might at moments be too far off his line. 
Kimmich is a studious footballer, but open to improvisation: He mostly plays in midfield, but has a parallel career as a full-back. A similar versatility spreads through much of the Bayern squad.

6). Strength in Depth

The top of Bundesliga has a more competitive feel than it has for many of Bayern’s seven titles on the trot. Four points separate second place from fifth, and both Monchengladbach and RB Leipzig have had sustained spells at the top of the table in 2019/20. But to look at Bayern on current form, and glance at their substitutes’ bench is to wonder if Flick’s Second XI would not be a match for most German opponents. Lucas Hernandez, the France World Cup winner, came on against Dortmund, while Niklas Sule, Corentin Tolisso and Thiago Alcantara are on the way back from injury, as is on-loan Philippe Coutinho.

7). A Treble on the table?

Assuming Bayern maintain their advantage in the Bundesliga, and the calendar proceeds without any public health risk during the coronavirus crisis, they will be German champions within a month. There are then the last two rounds of the German Cup, in July, with Bayern facing Eintracht Frankfurt for a place in the final against either Leverkusen or fourth-division Saarbrucken.
By August, when Uefa intend to complete the Champions League, Bayern may well own a domestic double, and will have paced themselves more gently towards their European Cup target than rivals from England, Spain or Italy, where football is yet to restart.

That would seem to give Bayern, 3-0 up after the first leg of their last-16 tie against Chelsea, an edge in Europe - if they need it.

Bayern Munich striker Serge Gnabry celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match at Stamford Bride. AFP

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates David Alaba and Alphonso Davies. Reuters

Bayern Munich's German striker Serge Gnabry (C) scores their first goal. AFP

Bayern Munich's German striker Serge Gnabry shoots to score their second goal. AFP

Chelsea's Willian in action with Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry. Reuters

Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry celebrates scoring their second goal. Reuters

Chelsea's Marcos Alonso reacts after Bayern Munich's second goal. Reuters

Chelsea's Marcos Alonso is sent off by referee Clement Turpin. Reuters

Referee Clement Turpin shows Chelsea's Marcos Alonso (not on the picture) a red card. EPA

Chelsea's Olivier Giroud in action against Bayern's Jerome Boateng. EPA

Bayern Munich's David Alaba in action with Chelsea's Olivier Giroud. Reuters

Chelsea's Olivier Giroud. EPA

Bayern Munich's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski vies with Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Willian. AFP

Lewandowski scores his team's third goal. EPA

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scores their third goal. Reuters