Borussia Dortmund fell frustratingly short of a sixth Bundesliga title despite winning 2-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach on the final day of the season.
Bayern Munich's resounding 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt sent the silverware to Bavaria and left Lucien Favre's men to count the cost of a poor second half to a once promising campaign.
The nine-point lead Dortmund held in January evaporated the following month and an improvement on last term's fourth-place finish will serve as hollow consolation.
But, having collapsed to a damaging 4-2 defeat to rival Schalke in April, the youthful runner-up can take some pride in keeping Bayern honest on Saturday.
Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus scored either side of half-time to keep the margin to two points and end Gladbach's hopes of edging Bayer Leverkusen in the battle for fourth.
RELATED | Robben and Ribery strike to seal Bayern's seventh consecutive Bundesliga title
Ibrahima Traore rattled the crossbar with a fine curling attempt for the hosts in the early exchanges before England winger Sancho made the breakthrough in controversial circumstances.
The teenager coolly volleyed home towards the end of the first half and VAR rubber stamped the goal despite the ball appearing to have run out of play prior to Reus' cross.
Sancho was also involved in the second as he and Mario Gotze combined to move the ball right to Christian Pulisic, who provided his captain with a straightforward tap-in.
Gladbach defender Nico Elvedi almost diverted a third into his own net moments later but the damage was done for both clubs as they failed to achieve their respective ambitions.
Comments
SHARE