Dortmund wins Bundesliga
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Borussia Dortmund, with a young team largely untried and untested before this season, won the German Bundesliga on Saturday as it beat Nuremberg 2-0 and rival Bayer Leverkusen lost at struggling Cologne.
Dortmund wrapped up its seventh Bundesliga title and its first since 2002 with two games to spare as it took an unassailable eight-point lead over four-time runner-up Leverkusen, which has still never won the league.
First-half goals from Lucas Barrios, his 14th Bundesliga goal of the season, and Robert Lewandowski gave Dortmund its win in front of more than 80,000 fans, leaving the team with 72 points from 32 games.
The second half was played in a festive atmosphere, especially after Leverkusen fell behind in its game, and beer was poured over Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp by his players in the traditional post-match celebrations.
"This is one of the most beautiful days, we have waited a long time for it," said Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc.
"The way in which this team has worked and trained is unique," said a beer-soaked Klopp in a TV interview. "We have surpassed ourselves 32 times. It's tremendous the way the team has fought for every point."
Dortmund has won 22 of its 32 games and lost only four despite suffering long-term injuries to key players Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Sebastian Kehl and defender Patrick Owomoyela .
But the team, which apart from goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller has an average age of 22, never looked back after a run of seven straight wins early in the season.
Leverkusen's hopes were sunk by two second-half goals from Milivoje Novakovic for a fired-up Cologne, playing its first game under interim coach Volker Finke after Franck Schaefer quit last Wednesday.
Leverkusen still needs two points to make sure of finishing second and a place in the Champions League group stage.
Champion Bayern Munich moved back into third place, which earns a place in the Champions League qualifying round, with a 4-1 win over Schalke 04, helped by two goals from Thomas Mueller.
Bayern, which has 59 points, displaced Hanover 96 which lost 0-1 at home to relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach, Marco Reus scoring a second-half winner.
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