Bayern beats Mainz but title wait will continue
Bayern Munich eased to a 3-0 win over Mainz in the Bundesliga, but had to put its title celebrations on ice after Bayer Leverkusen matched its win with victory over Augsburg.
Bayern could have clinched the Bundesliga crown had Leverkusen dropped points, but it can now secure its 34th league title with a win at RB Leipzig next week.
Top-scorer Harry Kane, who is set to collect his first major trophy, will miss next week's game at Leipzig after picking up his fifth booking and a suspension for time wasting, which could slightly spoil his own personal celebrations.
Jonathan Burkardt missed a glorious chance to open the scoring for the visitors after five minutes, but after shaking off Kim Min-Jae in the box, he blazed over the bar.
Josip Stanisic also fired wide shortly after, but Bayern eventually found the breakthrough in the 27th minute, with Konrad Laimer teeing up Leroy Sane to fire into the far corner.
With five minutes to play in the first half, Michael Olise doubled the lead with a stunning solo effort, firing into the back of the net from a tight angle with a superb finish.
Sane then twice hit the woodwork in the second half. When one-on-one with the goalkeeper, his dinked effort struck the post just after the hour before he repeated that feat with a half volley less than 20 minutes later.
Eric Dier eventually headed home Bayern's third goal in the 84th minute, rising at the far post to convert Olise's corner, shortly after Thomas Muller had entered the pitch to mark his 500th Bundesliga appearance.
Muller's illustrious spell at Bayern in in its final weeks, but there are still more landmarks for the Germany great to reach.
He is now the 13th player to reach the 500 mark in the league's history, and the fourth to do so with all of his appearances coming for a single club – no other Bayern player had achieved that latter feat.
Muller's 25-year association with Bayern will soon end, with a trip to Hoffenheim on 17 May likely to be his Bundesliga farewell.
He will then have one last opportunity to represent Bayern competitively at the FIFA Club World Cup, with Vincent Kompany's team set to face Auckland City, Boca Juniors and Benfica in the group stage.
Should lift the new-look trophy in the United States this year, it will become just the third club to win it three times, after Barcelona and Real Madrid – the latter doing so on five occasions.
More pressing for Muller, though, will be clinching his record-extending 13th Bundesliga title.
No other player has hoisted the Meisterschale on 12 occasions, with only Neuer (11), Lewandowski and David Alaba (both 10) also into double figures.
