Kane and Kompany: How Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich wrapped up the Bundesliga title without playing on Sunday, successfully bouncing back from its first trophyless season since 2012.

Bayer Leverkusen's 2-2 draw in Freiburg ended the defending champion's mathematical chance of still catching Bayern, which has an unassailable eight-point lead with two rounds remaining.

It’s Bayern’s record-extending 34th German title. Apart from the first in 1932, when the championship was decided by regional champions playing a knockout competition, all the others came after the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963.

Leverkusen’s triumph last year ended Bayern’s record 11-year reign, but the Bavarian powerhouse recovered this season thanks in part to new coach Vincent Kompany, England forward Harry Kane, and Leverkusen's inability to replicate its best ever season.

Here’s a closer look at the reasons for Bayern’s revival:

This was the season when Bayern finally left the Robert Lewandowski era behind. Nearly three years after the Polish striker left for Barcelona, Bayern feels like Kane's team. Lewandowski's old partners Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are no longer racking up the goals and assists as before, and the 35-year-old Thomas Müller is largely a bench player. Instead, Jamal Musiala has developed into a strong attacking threat with 12 Bundesliga goals in a season limited by injury. Michael Olise's first season since signing from Crystal Palace brought 10 goals and 17 assists in the Bundesliga alone, turning him into one of Bayern's key players. And Kane himself has scored some 24 goals.

Though far from first choice, Vincent Kompany has proven to be just what Bayern needed after Thomas Tuchel's turbulent spell as coach. Bayern tried to get Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann and Austria’s Ralf Rangnick to take over, then even attempted convincing Tuchel to stay after all. Kompany was a surprise pick after Burnley's Premier League relegation — having led the team to promotion the season before — but it has proven an inspired choice. Sporting director Christoph Freund praised the Belgian's calm manner, clear communication and focus for getting through to the players. The club has put a lid on the drama that overshadowed recent seasons. Gone are the days of player discontent, a coach hunting a mole in the locker room, a star player allegedly hitting a teammate and the club barring its own chief executive from title celebrations.

Kompany has worked his players hard and got away with it. Kane remains Bayern's most expensive signing and has a reported salary of around 25 million euros ($28.4 million). That means Bayern has to watch its spending elsewhere and the squad has seemed a little threadbare in places. First-choice central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae in particular have racked up games. South Korea's coach and the FIFPRO players' union voiced concerns Kim was being overloaded despite repeated Achilles tendon issues, and Upamecano and left back Alphonso Davies both picked up long-term injuries on international duty last month. Despite a thin squad and overloaded players, it was enough to get Bayern over the line for the title.

Going an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten was unprecedented. It was almost inevitable this season would see a decline. Leverkusen lost at home to Leipzig in its second Bundesliga game this season and dropped too many points for a title defense. Xabi Alonso's team has remained difficult to beat this season, with only two losses, but 11 draws were too many. Leverkusen failed to capitalize when Bayern slipped up, losing to Werder Bremen when Bayern was surprised by Bochum in March. Draws with Union Berlin and St. Pauli in April allowed Bayern to get away with a draw at Borussia Dortmund and then grow its lead.

Ellingworth contributed from Düsseldorf.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Bayern's Harry Kane, left, applauds supporters at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Harry Kane, centre, applauds supporters at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Harry Kane, centre, applauds supporters at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Leroy Sane, left, celebrates with Kingsley Coman, after scoring his side's third goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern players thank the fans at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Harry Kane applauds supporters at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern players thank the fans at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

One U.S. service member was rescued and at least one was missing after two U.S. military planes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Here is the latest:

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”

This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.

It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.

It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)