Dortmund retain Bundesliga title

SaturdayHoffenheim 0-1 LeverkusenBremen 1-2 BayernHertha 1-2 K’lauternNurnberg 1-1 Hamburg SVCologne 1-1 StuttgartDortmund 2-0 M’gladbachDORTMUND - Borussia Dortmund were crowned German league champions for the second consecutive season on Saturday having proved their worth by beating main title rivals Bayern Munich home and away.Dortmund’s win at home to Moenchengladbach left the defending champions eight points clear with two games remaining and they will be presented with the Bundesliga shield in their final game at home to Freiburg on May 5.Jurgen Klopp’s team suffered the last of their three league defeats back September and have now extended their record for the longest unbeaten run in a single German league season to 26.Having amassed 75 points, they can still beat the record of 79 for the most league points won in a season which Bayern achieved twice in the early 1970s.The champions have dominated Bayern in both the table and on the pitch of late as the Bavarians have lost their last four matches against Dortmund and not beaten the champions, home or away, since February 2010.After beating the Bavarians 1-0 at Munich’s Allianz Arena last November, thanks to a single goal from Germany’s teenage star Mario Goetze, Borussia backed it up with another 1-0 win over Munich in Dortmund on April 11.This is the first time for 16 years Bayern have been denied the German title for two seasons running when Dortmund last earned back-to-back titles in 1994/95 and 1995/96 before winning the 1997 Champions League title.Bayern still have the chance for revenge when the teams meet for a third time this season in the German Cup final on May 12 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.Having won last season’s league title by seven points, Dortmund started the new season with a 3-1 home win over Hamburg, but the shock of the opening weekend was Bayern’s 1-0 defeat at home to Moenchengladbach.With Bayern on the verge of the Champions League final after their 2-1 first-leg semi-final win over Real Madrid last week, Dortmund’s group stage exit proved to be a helping factor in Klopp’s team defending their title.