Bayern Munich will receive the Bundesliga trophy after rounding off their league campaign against relegated Hannover as Pep Guardiola takes charge of his final game at the Allianz Arena.
The former Barcelona head coach will manage Bayern – who were crowned champions for a record fourth consecutive year after last week’s win at Ingolstadt – for the last time in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The league winners will then be presented with the trophy before turning their attention to next Saturday’s DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, after which Guardiola will join Manchester City.
Following their title win, Bayern’s week got even better as they confirmed the signings of Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches and Dortmund captain Mats Hummels for next season, where they will try to make it five titles in succession.
Striker Robert Lewandowski believes a title party in Munich followed by DFB-Pokal glory would make Guardiola’s third and final campaign in Germany a success despite losing out in a third straight Champions League semi-final, this time to Atletico Madrid.
“We are champions for the fourth time in a row, which is amazing and it is my fourth title personally as well,” the Poland international said.
“We will have a party in Munich and celebrate with our fans. After that it is the cup final. If we win the cup, it will be a truly good season.”
Bayern will be expecting to give Guardiola a fine Allianz send-off as they sit an astonishing 60 points clear of bottom-of-the table Hannover and have won nine-in-a-row against them since their last defeat in October 2011, with the visitors scoring only four goals in that run.
Bayern have won their last home game of the season for nine consecutive years, keeping clean sheets in each of the last four.
So the omens are not good for Hannover, who lost 1-0 at home to Bayern in December’s reverse fixture and have been in the relegation places ever since, failing to get off the bottom at all in 2016, while Bayern have been constants at the top.
Daniel Stendel’s men beat Hoffenheim 1-0 in their last outing, but have only picked up five points from their last 10 away matches.
Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal is back after an illness, while Xabi Alonso (ribs) and Arjen Robben (hamstring) are working to be fit for next week’s Pokal final. Holger Badstuber has been training separately as he continues to recover from a broken ankle.
Key Opta stats:
– Hannover have suffered 36 Bundesliga defeats against Bayern – they have not lost more than 29 games against any other side. Their current run of eight consecutive league defeats against the champions is a club record.
– The bottom side have beaten the leaders just once in Bundesliga history when, after four matchdays had passed, Cologne were beaten 3-1 by Saarbrucken in January 1964.
– Bayern have not conceded against a team sitting bottom of the table in over 10 and a half hours (642 minutes).
– The champions have not faced a relegated side on the final matchday since 2010-11 (when Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1).
– The side bottom of the table has not claimed a point on the final matchday in each of the last six seasons. In contrast, the league leaders have won the last game in each of the previous nine campaigns.
– Robert Lewandowski has scored 29 goals this term, making him the league’s highest scoring overseas player in a campaign (same as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in 2011-12). He could become the first since Dieter Muller to net 30 in a top-flight campaign (34, 1976-77).
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