Historic double for Bayern

Published May 7, 2006

FRANKFURT, May 6: Bayern Munich won the German title for the 20th time and completed an historic “double double” when closest rivals Hamburg SV were beaten 4-2 at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

Bayern could only manage a 1-1 draw at Kaiserslautern but Hamburg's failure to get the win they needed left them six points off the pace with one game left.

Felix Magath's side become the first to successfully defend a Bundesliga and German Cup double, after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 in the Cup final in Berlin last Saturday.

“That's four titles in two years now,” Magath told reporters. “I don't think we've made too many big mistakes.”

Bayern clinched last season's league title with a 4-0 win but their hopes of a similar stroll over the finish line were quickly dashed.

At halftime they trailed to a Halil Altintop goal at Kaiserslautern while Hamburg led 2-1 thanks to Piotr Trochowski and Benjamin Lauth.

But Hertha equalised through Alexander Madlung in the 55th minute and, despite having Andreas Neuendorf sent off four minutes later, they clinched victory through Nico Kovac and Marko Pantelic.

In their match, Bayern grabbed an equaliser through Andreas Ottl in the 68th minute to ease their nerves and with Hamburg being well beaten they were able to start their celebrations on the final whistle.

—Reuters

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