BERLIN (AP) ― Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 3-2 to seal the club’s first treble by winning the German Cup on Saturday in Jupp Heynckes’ last game in charge.
Mario Gomez scored twice and Bayern became the first German side to win a treble of domestic league, cup and European Cup, and only the seventh team overall to achieve the feat.
Thomas Mueller opened the scoring with a penalty in the 37th minute, Gomez made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half, and the former Stuttgart striker added his second in the 61st.
Martin Harnik pulled one back in the 71st, and set up an exciting finale when he scored again with 10 minutes remaining, but Bayern held on to complete the most successful season for a German club.
FC Barcelona’s Eric Abidal is honored after playing his last match with the club on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
“It doesn’t get any better,” former Bayern star Franz Beckenbauer said.
“The Stuttgarters made it exciting for us. But when you look at the 90 minutes, the win was deserved. No other team managed to win all the titles before. This is the best Bayern team ever. I can’t remember a season that went any better. This is the absolute highlight.”
Bayern’s record 16th German Cup comes one week after it beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in London to win the Champions League and eight after it broke a host of records in claiming its 23rd Bundesliga title, leaving incoming coach Pep Guardiola with a daunting challenge to match Heynckes’ achievements this season.
“It’s unbelievable what the team and coach have achieved over the whole season,” Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said.
“They were tough months but now we’re being rewarded for them.”
Only Celtic in 1967, Ajax in 1972, PSV Eindhoven in 1988, Manchester United in 1999, Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2009 and Inter Milan in 2010 previously won the treble.
Spain
Barcelona capped its Spanish league title by tying the record of 100 points, beating Malaga 4-1 on Saturday to close out a season that had several farewells, none more notable than that by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.
Barcelona stormed to an insurmountable lead at Camp Nou to match the points milestone set by Madrid last season.
David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Martin Montoya and Andres Iniesta all scored for Barcelona before Pedro Morales pulled one back for Malaga.
Earlier, Madrid beat Osasuna 4-2 in Mourinho’s last game before his expected return to the English Premier League.
Madrid, which never recovered from a poor start to the season, finished in a distant second place 15 points behind Barcelona and without a major title after coming up short in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
It was also the last appearance for Barcelona defender Eric Abidal, Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini and Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, all set to change clubs this summer.
The other eight games on the final day will determine remaining berths for European competition and the three relegated teams.
Barcelona got rolling when Villa batted in a generous back pass from Pedro Rodriguez three minutes in after Iniesta found Pedro at the end of a run with a long through ball.
