Bayern a point away from Bundesliga title
MUNICH, Germany — Two goals from Franck Ribery helped Bayern Munich beat champions Stuttgart 4-1 on Sunday to move 12 points clear in the Bundesliga with just one point required from their last four games to seal a 21st German title.
Luca Toni scored his 36th goal in only 42 matches in the eighth minute and, although Antonio da Silva equalised nine minutes later, Mark van Bommel fired in a superb low free-kick that curled around the wall in the 55th minute to make it 2-1.
Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld had rested Ribery along with four other first team players ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Cup semifinal second leg at Zenit St Petersburg.
However, Hitzfeld sent him on as a 57th minute substitute and the playmaker scored twice within two minutes.
The Frenchman blasted a spectacular long-range shot into the top right corner beyond the fingertips of keeper Raphael Schaefer in the 75th minute and then beat two Stuttgart defenders before firing in a crisp shot with his weaker left foot.
Hitzfeld made it clear that reaching the UEFA Cup final was the top priority with the Bundesliga all but wrapped up. I’m glad I rested Ribery. He was hugely motivated when he came off the bench, he said.
Bayern, who drew 1-1 at home to Zenit last week and won the German Cup a week last Saturday, now lead the Bundesliga with 66 points. It’s good we didn’t clinch the title now because there would have been too much celebrating and we wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on the hard match at St Petersburg, said chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Werder Bremen are second on 54 points after losing ground on Saturday with a 3-3 draw at Karlsruhe, while Schalke are third, also with 54 points, after beating Hamburg 1-0 on Saturday.
Hitzfeld admitted it was hard to imagine Bayern squandering the title now with a 12-point lead and four matches left — along with a superior 20-goal advantage over Bremen.
The team showed a lot of character once again, said Hitzfeld. We believe we can win every match with five or six fresh players coming in. We would be on our last legs if we had to play so many matches with the same 11 players.
In Sunday’s other Bundesliga match, Bayer Leverkusen twice wasted a lead before being held 2-2 at home by Wolfsburg. E-mail to a friend
