Bayern sign off on winning note

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Munich - FC Bayern München celebrated lifting their 23rd Bundesliga shield with a last-gasp 1-0 victory at home to VfB Stuttgart.

Mandzukic on the hunt

The champions, who wrapped up the title in record time back on Matchday 27, warmed up for the official post-match party with a patient win, secured thanks to substitute Claudio Pizarro's emphatic injury-time strike.

Essentially a dress rehearsal for next weekend's DFB Cup final against Borussia Dortmund, Pep Guardiola sent out his strongest possible starting XI, with captain Philipp Lahm and French international Franck Ribery the only notable absentees. David Alaba surged forward straight from the off, but Thomas Müller was unable to steer the Austrian's raking left-wing cross on target.

That effort aside, Bayern took their time to settle into their habitual swagger, until Mario Mandzukic at last forced a decent save from Stuttgart's Sven Ulreich. The Croatian hit man, level with future team-mate Robert Lewandowski atop the leading scorers' charts at the start of play, saw an acrobatic effort charged down as Bayern turned the screw, before Bastian Schweinsteiger headed Toni Kroos' inswinging corner wide.

Schweinsteiger blow


The sight of the hosts' stand-in skipper later trudging off down the tunnel prompted a fair few concerned faces in the Bayern dugout. Danish midfield prospect Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg swiftly entered the fray in his captain's stead, but other than Arjen Robben's overcooked free kick, the Bavarians were unable to rediscover their groove before the referee blew time on an altogether dozy first half.

Glued to the touchline, an animated Guardiola was doing his best to rally the troops, with young Hojbjerg the first to heed his mentor's call with a sizzling 25-yard strike that was always swerving away from goal. Rafinha followed suit on his weaker left foot, but the Brazilian's low drive could only find a wall of white shirts.

Pizarro wins it


Stuttgart couldn't get the ball and it took a fine piece of goalkeeping from Ulreich, who had only kept four clean sheets all season, to keep the simmering partygoers at bay and snuff out the marauding Robben on the hour-mark. Mandzukic made way as Guardiola sought a way through, the Croatian's hopes of lifting his first ever Torjägerkanone simultaneously laid to rest for another campaign.

After Cacau warmed the palms of Manuel Neuer, Pizarro spurned a glorious opportunity to fire his side in front, with Robben then having a goal ruled out for offside. The Dutchman went closer still to that party-prompting winner, but the already exultant Allianz Arena was not to be denied an apt hurrah as the Bundesliga's all-time leading foreign goalscorer, out of contract in the summer, slammed home at the death to kick off the title festivities in style.

Christopher Mayer-Lodge

Line-ups and statistics


Pep Guardiola let the title slip away from him, but luckily only after he had won it. Check out more interesting videos on the official Bundesliga YouTube channel: