With Munich 2-0 down, Leverkusen were confident and on the brink of winning the championship.
Bayer Leverkusen are very close to their first championship in the club's history. Coach Xabi Alonso's side won 1-0 (1-0) at 1. FC Union Berlin and can clinch the title themselves next weekend.
Followers FC Bayern, mired in a sporting crisis, lost to newly-promoted team 1. Despite leading 2:3 (2:0), FC Heidenheim remains 16 points behind with six match days remaining. If Munich lose next Saturday, Bayer will be champions without action.
In the fight against relegation, FSV Mainz 05 celebrated a 4-0 (1-0) win over bottom side Darmstadt 98, which leaves them nine points behind Rheinhessen. The final 1. FC Köln celebrated a late 2-1 (0-0) win against VfL Bochum and is one point behind Mainz, three points ahead of 15th-placed Bochum FSV.
Heidenheim changes the game
In the race for the Champions League, RB Leipzig were never threatened with a 4:1 (3:0) win at SC Freiburg, with the Saxons currently in fourth place ahead of Borussia Dortmund. BVB can overtake VfB Stuttgart again in the evening game.
Leverkusen struggled in the first half against Berlin, who lined up well defensively early on. From the closing stages of the first half, Union had to continue playing without Robin Cozens, who was shown yellow-red after repeated fouls (45th + 3). After the resulting free kick, Christopher Trimmel deflected a shot into the penalty area with his hand, the ball hitting the post. Florian Wirtz (45th + 8) converted the handball penalty and Trimmel was not given a card by referee Benjamin Brandt.
Harry Kane (38th) scored Bayern's first goal. It was the 32nd goal for the Englishman, who has already scored as many goals as last season's top scorers Nicklas Fulcrug and Christopher Nkunku (both 16th). The restart was slightly delayed as referee Robert Schröder was replaced by fourth official Patrick Ault due to health issues.
Then Kevin Sessa (50th) and Tim Kleindienst (51st) scored and the Heidenheim fans cheered loudly for the equalizer at the start. Again Kleindienst (79th) punished a more harmless Bayern with a sensational Heidenheim lead.
A strong Leipzig performance
Mainz took the lead through Andreas Hanse-Olsson (33rd), who scored his first goal of the season and put the rivals under pressure in their fight against relegation. Prajan Kruda (60th) scored the second FSV goal before Jae-Sung Lee (80th and 84th) decided the game. In the parallel game in Cologne, Felix Baslak (53') scored for Bochum in the second half, but Steffen Digges (90'+1) and Luca Waldschmidt (90'+2) converted.
Leipzig took an early lead in Freiburg, with Amato Haidara (2nd) and Luis Opanda (18th) giving RB a two-goal lead. Lukas Holler misses the opening goal for Sports Club when he misses a penalty with a hand – the ball hits the crossbar (41st). Opanda (44th) on the other hand scored for the second time. Benjamin Sesco (54th) finally decided the match. Vincenzo Grifo's Freiburg goal (59') didn't change that. (DPA)
