Berlin: Cologne were relegated on the final day of the Bundesliga football season following a 1-4 home defeat to Bayern Munich while champions Borussia Dortmund broke the league record for the most points in a season with a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg.
“My team has erased any doubts and proven their character,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp after his side finished the season eight points clear of Champions League finalists Bayern Munich.
“They have shown an impressive appetite for football. Something extraordinary has happened: we have got 81 points, which no team will beat anytime soon.”
Dortmund’s second consecutive title triumph allowed them to break Bayern’s long-held record of 79 for the most points amassed in a season. Dortmund also extended their unbeaten run to 28 games, Xinhua reported on Saturday.
All four Dortmund goals came from Poland internationals as Robert Lewandowski netted twice, while international team-mate Jakub Blaszczykowski also hit two goals to make it 4-0 at the break.
In contrast, Cologne’s 4-1 defeat at home to Bayern saw them drop to 17th in the league and suffer automatic relegation, after Hertha Berlin’s 3-1 home win over 10-man Hoffenheim lifted them to 16th.
Hertha must now win a two-leg play-off against a team from the second division to stay in the top tier.
Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski marked his Cologne farewell, but could not prevent his team suffering a home defeat by Bayern.
German international Thomas Mueller put Bayern on 34 minutes and Cologne captain Pedro Geromel then turned the ball into his own net on 52 minutes and Bayern’s Dutch star Arjen Robben curled in the third on 54 minutes.
The hosts pulled a goal back, but Mueller netted Bayern’s fourth to compound Cologne’s misery and send them down.
Hannover claimed the last available Europa League qualification spot as their 2-1 win at home to Kaiserslautern left them seventh, while Stuttgart’s 3-2 win over Wolfsburg denied Wolves a top-seven finish and a place in Europe.
Germany’s Stefan Kiessling hit a hat-trick in Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-1 victory at Nuremberg as ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack made his final appearance for Leverkusen.
Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was Bundesliga’s top scorer with 29 goals in 32 games after he scored twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Werder Bremen. (IANS)