BERLIN (AP) — Not that Bayern Munich needed any help, but the Bavarian powerhouse can clinch another Bundesliga title this weekend after Hoffenheim's 2-1 win over second-place Borussia Dortmund.
Hoffenheim forward Andrej Kramarić scored two penalties on Saturday – the second one in stoppage time – to deal Dortmund a second consecutive defeat that opens the way for Bayern to seal the title at home against Stuttgart on Sunday.
Bayern, which has five games
remaining compared to Dortmund’s four, leads by 12 points and needs just one more point to be sure of finishing top.
“It would certainly round off this week nicely,” Bayern's board member for sport Max Eberl said after Bayern’s Champions League quarterfinal win on Wednesday.
It would be Bayern's 13th German championship in 14 years, and the first step in a potential treble of trophies this season.
Bayern faces Bayer Leverkusen away in the German Cup semifinals on Wednesday, before it can turn attention to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semifinals.
Marie-Louise Eta became the first female coach to take charge of a Bundesliga game, but her Union Berlin team failed to live up to the occasion as it lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg.
Eta was appointed interim manager this week and now has four more games to ensure Union stays in the top division before she takes over Union’s women’s team for next season.
Patrick Wimmer and Dženan Pejčinović scored early in each half for visiting Wolfsburg to end its 12-game run without a win and revive its hopes of escaping relegation. Wolfsburg remains second to last but it’s just two points behind St. Pauli in the relegation playoff place with four rounds remaining.
Union ultimately paid the price for a lack of efficiency after creating the better chances and finishing strongly. Oliver Burke’s goal in the 85th minute was too late for the Köpenick-based team, which was also frustrated by late saves from Wolfsburg's Kamil Grabara.
“If you shoot 26 times at goal or try to shoot at goal then you're doing a lot right, and from that point of view the performance was in order today,” Union right back Christopher Trimmel said. “Still, we need to improve on some aspects.”
Union, which has only won two games in 2026, fired Steffan Baumgart after last weekend’s loss at Heidenheim and finds itself just six points above the relegation zone.
Ivorian teenager Yan Diomande scored again as Leipzig moved closer to qualification for Europe's premier competition with a 3-1 win at seventh-place Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 19-year-old Diomande scored Leipzig's winner in a 1-0 success against Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend and proved decisive again with the opener in Frankfurt.
Antonio Nusa and Conrad Harder also scored as Leipzig moved third, three points above Stuttgart and five points above fifth place Hoffenheim.
Leverkusen's Champions League hopes suffered a blow in a 2-1 loss at home to Augsburg, dropping it to sixth, two points behind Hoffenheim.
The top four qualify for the Champions League.
Werder Bremen boosted its survival hopes with a 3-1 win at home against Hamburger SV in their northern derby. Bremen moved level with the visitors on 31 points, five points above St. Pauli.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
