The Bundesliga giants can no longer cling to the past after they were relegated in humiliating style on the season’s final day
In some ways, it was like so many other key moments in the history of Werder Bremen. It wasn’t supposed to happen now, though, and not like this. Thomas Schaaf was on the touchline, a reassuring silhouette in cap, glasses and beard but having presided over so many life-affirming moments that gave the team from the Weser worldwide renown, this time he was stuck, left holding the baby.
At the end of an agonising Saturday afternoon the shock and horror was real, after defeat at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach condemned Werder to a second-ever relegation, and their first for 41 years. It was real from former stars like Johan Micoud, the playmaking prince from the 2004 Bundesliga/DfB Pokal double winners (“I want to cry,” he tweeted), Mesut Özil and Davy Klaassen, who was still a Werder player in autumn and escaped to a double-winning season back home at Ajax. It was certainly real outside the Weserstadion, where the outpouring of grief after the match turned to anger in some quarters, prompting the police to advance a water cannon, deploy pepper spray and the players to sneak out of a back entrance to avoid a confrontation.
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Bayern 5-2 Augsburg, Dortmund 3-1 Leverkusen, Hoffenheim 2-1 Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg 2-3 Mainz, Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Freiburg, Union Berlin 2-1 RB Leipzig, Köln 1-0 Schalke, Werder Bremen 2-4 Mönchengladbach, Stuttgart 0-2 Arminia Bielefeld
He’s done it!! 41 GOALS!
Robert Lewandowski breaks Gerd Müller’s all-time Bundesliga goal tally for a single season! ⚽
Record-breaker. History maker. Legend. pic.twitter.com/61YqpTbJoP
Yesterday was the final match of Lars Bender's career
Off the bench for one final appearance, Leverkusen won a late penalty.
When Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki saw it was Bender taking it, he didn't try to save it. pic.twitter.com/ZabixDkieV