Thomas Muller joked Robert Lewandowski is "not normal" after the Bayern Munich star scored a hat-trick to close in on a Bundesliga record.
Bayern were crowned Bundesliga champions on Saturday before kicking a ball thanks to Borussia Dortmund's dramatic win over RB Leipzig.
Hansi Flick's side proceeded to put on a worthy celebration against Borussia Monchengladbach, hammering them 6-0 at Allianz Arena to mark their ninth straight title in sensational style.
Lewandowski was integral, scoring a hat-trick to take his tally of league goals to the campaign for 39, moving him to within one of Gerd Muller's all-time Bundesliga single-season record of 40 set in 1971-72.
With two games remaining – against Freiburg and Augsburg respectively – it seems almost certain that Lewandowski will etch his name into the record books, and current team-mate Muller remains in awe at his prowess.
"We do have to say, that we as a team try our hardest for him. But how he is able to score those goals is not normal as well," he joked.
Muller has now won 10 Bundesliga titles, though conceded it has not always been a smooth ride this season. Indeed, his fellow long-time team-mates Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez and David Alaba, along with head coach Flick, are all leaving at the end of the campaign.
"I do have to say that the game was more championship-like than the actual championship," Muller said.
"It was a great game today. We were there from the first until the last minute. Thanks to all the emotions and the euphoria, we knew that we had won the championship before the actual match.
"If you look at the big picture, then it was very hard for us over the past two weeks to be honest. Through all the talks I had with the others, the elimination in the Champions League really hurt us.
"We felt like we could do something in the Champions League this season. But we were able to overcome that in the recent two weeks. We were able to properly take a deep breath.
"There is not a lot of romance in this business, but we tried to have as much romance at the end of the season today as we could.
"Jerome will leave, David will leave, Javi will leave and the coach will leave. I know that Hansi hasn't been here for so long, but the other three were my team-mates for nearly ten years now, so they were always there when we won the championship for nine times in a row."
When it comes to Lewandowski, however, Muller added: "Well that is not about romance. I don't know how many hat-tricks and braces this guy had. It is more like mathematics!"
It proved to be a bittersweet moment for Flick, who is entering the final two games of a short but hugely successful tenure in which Bayern have won seven trophies.
"It's outstanding what the team has achieved," he said. "You could see that we were ready. That's the mentality of this team. The game today was worthy of champions.
"The whole club creates this atmosphere that you can be successful. Bayern has always been my club, I was a big fan when I was young, Gerd Muller was my big idol, Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
"I have now experienced two fantastic years here. To experience this togetherness on a daily basis is outstanding. These two years have been very valuable for me."
New England Revolution v D.C. United: Lesesne hoping to keep high level on 'hard' road trip
Troy Lesesne was full of praise for D.C. United's comeback win over Nashville SC but has urged the team to maintain their high level when they travel to New England Revolution.
D.C. came from behind, scoring two late goals to snatch a 4-3 victory over Nashville in midweek, moving them to 11th in the Eastern Conference.
They are one of three teams on 37 points and still have a chance of making the playoffs with two games remaining.
Lesesne is now keen to build on their latest run of form in what he describes as a tough place to visit.
"It's another situation where we need three points," Lesesne said. "We can go do it, but we just need to be in this mindset.
"New England are a very good team, I understand where they are in the table, but it's really hard to get points there and we need to be at our best again.
"I've been trying to communicate a clear message the entire season about the mentality, and how the players display themselves. That was on full display [against Nashville]."
Meanwhile, New England's slim chances of making the playoffs are still alive, despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to Houston Dynamo last time out.
They sit 14th in the table on 31 points with three games left, but head coach Caleb Porter acknowledged they need to improve the small details if they want to make it to the postseason.
"For me, where we fell short is the details [against Houston]," Porter said. "And that's the area of our team that we have to continue to work on.
"We have to finish our chances. We have to be smarter in those details of our decision-making. And the guys know that. So, for me, that's a real learning lesson."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New England Revolution – Carles Gil
Carles Gil scored for the first time since early September from the penalty spot against Houston, ending a run of four games without a goal.
He is the team's second top-scorer on seven goals, while he has also registered the most assists (five), and the Revs will be hoping he can provide the spark in their search for a vital three points.
D.C. United – Gabriel Pirani
Most of the headlines for D.C. will often go to Christian Benteke, who has a league-high 22 goals so far. However, Gabriel Pirani stepped up when it counted on Wednesday.
He sits second on their goalscoring charts with six for the season, getting two of those in stoppage time in midweek, to flip the game on its head and claim a superb victory.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN
New England were on a three-match unbeaten streak against D.C. but lost their most recent meeting with them this season, going down 3-1 in February. However, D.C. have lost their last four trips to Gillette Stadium.
The Revs have won just one of their last seven MLS matches (D2 L4), though that victory came in their last home game as they edged past Nashville 1-0.
Meanwhile, D.C. have lost just one of their last six outings (W3 D2) – that defeat did come on the road, but they bounced back, coming from behind to get their win over Nashville in midweek.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New England Revolution – 45.5%
Draw – 26.8%
D.C. United – 27.6%
Leicester's heads are not down as wait for a win goes on, says Cooper
Steve Cooper insists the mood at Leicester City is not downbeat as the Foxes' wait for a first Premier League win rolls into matchday seven.
Leicester fought back from 2-0 down away at Arsenal last time out, only for two goals in second-half stoppage time from the Gunners to break their resolve.
Attention now turns to a home game against Bournemouth, who beat Leicester's fellow promoted side Southampton 3-1 on Monday.
And though Leicester sit in 17th without a win to their name, Cooper is not down in the doldrums.
As reported by Leicestershire Live, he said: "We're not heads down and we're not of the mindset that we'll be okay either.
"Both of those mindsets are dangerous. We're in the middle of that, where we're frustrated that we haven’t been able to get more out of the games, but there's a constant determination to put things right.
"We have to make sure the mindset is right with the players. I really believe that will happen, convinced of it, that we will get what we want from this season."
One bright spark this season for Leicester came off the pitch, as they won an appeal that means they cannot be penalised by the Premier League for an alleged breach of the competition's financial rules in the 2022-23 season.
This means Leicester are extremely unlikely to be hit with a points deduction for that supposed breach.
"The landscape has definitely changed on that front," said Cooper.
"Even when that was looming over us, it wasn't interfering with our daily work either.
"What we want to achieve, as we decided on, it's still very much achievable. When we achieve it, we will look back and say it was a rocky road."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester City - Wilfred Ndidi
Bukayo Saka (five) is the only Premier League player with more assists than Ndidi (four) this season.
Ndidi's four assists is just one fewer than he managed in 32 Championship appearances last term, while it is already his joint-best in a single Premier League campaign (also four in 2020-21).
Bournemouth - Antoine Semenyo
Only Erling Haaland (31) has had more shots than Semenyo (28) in the Premier League this season, with Semenyo the only Bournemouth player to score more than once so far (three).
The Ghana international has also completed the most dribbles (eight) and had the most touches in the opposition box (34) of any Cherries player in the competition this term.
MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN
Cooper has never beaten Bournemouth in five attempts in all competitions (D2 L3). It is the joint-most he has ever faced an opponent as a manager without ever winning (also five vs Manchester United).
Leicester have faced more shots than any other side in the Premier League this season (114), with their 34 faced against Arsenal last time out their most on record (since 2003-04) in a single match in the competition.
However, since winning four consecutive away league games in November/December last season, Bournemouth have won just three of their last 13 on the road (D3 L7), with two of those wins coming against sides in the relegation zone.
That being said, Bournemouth have won each of their last three Premier League games against Leicester, their joint-longest winning run against the Foxes in their league history (also three between 1987 and 1989).
Leicester have won just two of their 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth (D5 L5), with both of those victories coming at the King Power Stadium in 2019 (2-0 in March, 3-1 in August).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leicester City - 31.5%
Bournemouth - 43.3%
Draw - 25.1%
Solanke earns England recall, Foden, Palmer and Bellingham return
Lee Carsley has recalled Dominic Solanke to the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.
Solanke's only previous call-up came when he was at Liverpool back in 2017, earning his sole cap as a substitute against Brazil.
Despite missing the start of the season through injury, he has made a fine start to life at Tottenham and has scored in each of his last three matches in all competitions.
"Dom's a player I'm fully aware of having worked with him in the past," said Carsley.
"He was really close to being in the last squad but got injured just before selection. He did so well at Bournemouth, and now he's taken that form into Spurs. He's extremely talented, and it's good that we've got him."
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham are also back in the squad after missing the September fixtures through illness and injury respectively.
Should Bellingham feature for the Three Lions this international break, he would move outright second for most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).
Kyle Walker is also back in the fold having been left out of the last squad due to a lack of playing time, and could move into the top five for most England appearances made at Wembley Stadium (37) if he plays against Greece.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all drop out.
England squad in full:
Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
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