Harry Kane continued his record-breaking form by becoming the highest scoring Englishman in a single Bundesliga season with the winner in Bayern Munich’s 1-0 victory at struggling Cologne.
England captain Kane claimed his 18th goal of the season courtesy of a first-half tap-in to fire Bayern to the top of the table, above Bayer Leverkusen.
The 30-year-old striker’s remarkable tally is one more than Kevin Keegan managed for Hamburg in the 1978-79 campaign and the total Jadon Sancho registered for Borussia Dortmund in 2019-20.
His haul has come in just 12 league games since his big-money summer switch from Tottenham, while he has registered 22 goals in 17 outings in all competitions.
Thomas Tuchel’s side dominated proceedings against a team who remain second-bottom but squandered a host of chances to make the scoreline more emphatic, with Leroy Sane particularly culpable.
Unbeaten Bayern were back at RheinEnergieStadion for the first time since dramatically snatching the Bundesliga title from Dortmund on the final day of last season.
They began with purpose and were almost gifted an early lead when Cologne defender Timo Hubers inadvertently diverted the ball on to the outside of his own post with Kane waiting to pounce following fine work for Sane.
Former Manchester City forward Sane then failed to lift the ball over home goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe after being sent through on goal and later scuffed wastefully wide.
Kane’s decisive 20th-minute finish came between those golden chances.
He calmly slotted home on the rebound after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s initial effort was blocked on the line by Julian Chabot to cap a swift Bayern counter-attack, started by Konrad Laimer’s interception.
Choupo-Moting almost doubled the lead two minutes later when he was denied by Schwabe.
Lowly Cologne, whose only win of the season was a 3-1 success over Borussia Monchengladbach on October 22, offered little from an attacking perspective in the opening period.
Visiting goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to be alert to repel Rasmus Carstensen’s close-range header but the visitors were relatively untroubled.
For all of Bayern’s control, head coach Tuchel would have been eager to grab a second to secure the points.
However, chances were scant in a largely-forgettable second period which lacked tempo.
Sane saw a powerful effort blocked behind by Chabot, before Kingsley Coman headed against the crossbar from the resulting corner.
Bayern’s failure to kill off the game gave Cologne a glimmer of hope of snatching an unlikely draw going into the closing stages.
Yet the away side comfortably held on to move to the summit as the prolific Kane once again grabbed the headlines.
Bayer Leverkusen's 'dream season' down to self-belief – Alonso
Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double was the result of players keeping faith in the team throughout what turned into a dream season, so says Xabi Alonso.
Leverkusen added the Pokal to their Bundesliga crown with a 1-0 victory over second-tier Kaiserslautern.
Granit Xhaka scored the only goal of the game as he arrowed in from distance in the 16th minute.
"In the end, to win like that meant we showed spirit, we fought for the fans for the club," said Alonso.
"It is a huge success to win the double. We will remember this in the future."
Leverkusen lost only one of 53 matches across all competitions this season, with that sole defeat coming in Wednesday's Europa League final against Atalanta, denying them a treble.
"The most important thing was the belief of the team. They were ready to battle with 10 players and I am proud of that," Alonso said.
"I need time to accept what happened this season. It was a dream season and to celebrate the last day like this here is special."
Leverkusen will be looking to build on their success next season, with Alonso having snubbed the advances of Liverpool and Bayern Munich in order to stay at the club.
Milan 3-3 Salernitana: Rossoneri denied late on in Pioli's farewell
Milan ended their Serie A campaign with a disappointing 3-3 home draw against relegated Salernitana on Saturday in what was the last game at the club for coach Stefano Pioli and striker Olivier Giroud.
The Rossoneri looked set to cruise to victory when Davide Calabria put them 3-1 up in the 77th minute at San Siro.
Rafael Leao, who may well be on the move in the upcoming transfer window, had put Milan ahead after capitalising on a dreadful mistake from Salernitana goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo in the 22nd minute.
Giroud doubled the advantage five minutes later, volleying home from an Alessandro Florenzi corner to mark his farewell appearance in style before he joins MLS club Los Angeles FC.
Salernitana pulled a goal back through forward Simy in the second half before Calabria restored the hosts' two-goal lead, with Pioli seemingly sailing towards a victory in his last match.
Yet Junior Sambia and Simy levelled with two quick-fire goals in the dying moments to deny second-place Milan a victory to end the season.
Data Debrief: Giroud heads off into the sunset in style
Giroud finished the Serie A season with 23 goal involvements (15 goals and eight assists); only twice in his career has he managed a better tally in a single season in the big five European leagues: 24 in 2013-14 with Arsenal and 30 in 2011-12 with Montpellier.
Indeed, the 37-year-old is the oldest player among those with at least 23 goals involvement in the big five European leagues this season.
Christian Pulisic grabbed an assist, meanwhile, to become only the second Milan midfielder to be involved in 20+ goals (12 goals, eight assists) in a single Serie A season, after Kaka (20 in 2005-06, 26 in 2007-08, 25 in 2008-09) in the last 20 seasons.
Kaiserslautern 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Xhaka stunner seals DFB-Pokal triumph
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second-tier Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the DFB-Pokal and secure the club's first domestic double.
Leverkusen missed out on a treble after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday, in what was astonishingly their first defeat of the season in all competitions, after a European record 51-game unbeaten run.
But at Berlin's Olympic stadium, which will host the Euro 2024 final in July, Xabi Alonso's side ensured they capped off a remarkable campaign with another piece of silverware thanks to Granit Xhaka's stunning 16th-minute strike.
The ball rolled out to the former Arsenal man around 25 yards out, and he planted an unstoppable first-time effort into the left-hand side of the net.
They controlled the pace even after they were reduced to 10 men following Odilon Kossounou's second booking a minute before half-time.
Kaiserslautern rarely threatened after the break, with Leverkusen limiting their opponents to just 0.2 expected goals.
And even though they could not add to their lead, Leverkusen were able to comfortably wrap up their second trophy of the best season in the club's history.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen join the club
Leverkusen are only the fifth different side to win the double in Germany since the Bundesliga was founded, after Bayern Munich (13 times), 1. Koln, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund.
Xhaka's strike was a worthy winner. He became the first Swiss player to score in a DFB-Pokal final.
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