BERLIN (AP) — With another German title almost certain, Bayern Munich is targeting a Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League treble – along with a few records.
Bayern defeated closest rival Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the Bundesliga last weekend and can go 14 points clear before the rest of the 25th round with a win at home over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday.
The Bavarian powerhouse then faces Italian team Atalanta away in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday. The return game in Munich is the following week.
Bayern plays Bayer Leverkusen away in the semifinals of the German Cup in April.
Fans are dreaming of a three-peat of the league, cup and Champions League treble that Bayern won under Jupp Heynckes in 2013.
Under Vincent Kompany this season, the team has played 37 games, winning 32, losing two – to Arsenal and Augsburg – while drawing three.
The front three of Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz have chipped in 53 goals in the Bundesliga so far and could overtake Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeneß and Franz Roth (65 for Bayern in 1971-72) as the most prolific trio in Bundesliga history.
Bayern is also on target – with 88 goals so far – to break the record for goals in a season, Bayern’s 101 in 1971-72.
Nine rounds remain after this weekend.
The battle for Champions League qualification is intensifying with four teams — Hoffenheim, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen — fighting for the last two places to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.
Hoffenheim and Stuttgart currently have those places with 46 points, third and fourth respectively on goal difference, while Leipzig follows on 44, and Leverkusen is a further point behind in sixth.
All four are playing on Saturday, with Hoffenheim visiting last-placed Heidenheim, Leipzig hosting Augsburg, Leverkusen visiting Freiburg and Stuttgart traveling to Mainz.
Relegation is also heating up after Wolfsburg dropped into an automatic relegation place last weekend. The Volkswagen-backed club, which hasn’t won any of its last seven games, hosts Hamburger SV on Saturday.
Fellow strugglers St. Pauli and Werder Bremen play Eintracht Frankfurt (at home) and Union Berlin (away), respectively, on Sunday.
If Leipzig does clinch a Champions League place, it will likely be thanks to Yan Diomande. The Ivory Coast teenager has nine goals this season and scored the winner against Hamburg last weekend.
Kane, who scored twice or more in each of his last four Bundesliga games, is out with a calf injury. It hurts his bid to break Robert Lewandowski’s season record of 41 goals in 2020-21. Kane has 30 from 24 rounds but won’t be able to add to his tally on Friday.
Dortmund visits Cologne on Saturday and will be without captain Emre Can for the rest of the season after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the loss to Bayern last weekend.
Stadium safety and the continued use of banned pyrotechnics are set to become issues again after Rot-Weiss Essen goalkeeper Felix Wienand was hospitalized on Wednesday with injuries from a firecracker that was thrown from the stands in a third-division game against Waldhof Mannheim.
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Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)
Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich, centre, celebrates with Josip Stanisic and Michael Olise after scoring his side's third goal during the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)
Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)
GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — An Iranian warship that was sunk by a U.S. submarine near Sri Lanka had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading out into international waters in the Indian Ocean on its way home, New Delhi said.
The sinking underscored the scope of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and its spread in the Middle East and beyond. It also ignited a debate in India about maritime security in the Indian Ocean — a region where New Delhi maintains a significant naval presence.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's navy recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the IRIS Dena, which sank in international waters off the coast of the island nation — a rare instance of a submarine torpedoing a ship since World War II.
Sri Lanka’s navy said it had responded to a distress signal from the IRIS Dena, but by the time it reached the location, there was no sign of the ship, just patches of oil and sailors floating in the water. The rescued mariners were taken to a hospital in the town of Galle, on Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the sinking illustrates the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran is stretching beyond its borders and described IRIS Dena as a “prize ship.” U.S. President Donald Trump has said one of the key objectives of the war is to wipe out Iran’s navy.
A video released by the U.S. Department of Defense on X showed the moment of the torpedo attack. The Iranian ship appears to be hit by an underwater explosion that causes it to break apart, as a large plume of water rises up in the air.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. Navy of committing an “an atrocity at sea” in sinking the frigate and said on social media on Thursday that the United States “will come to bitterly regret” the attack.
India’s navy and defense ministry said the Iranian warship had participated in the International Fleet Review and the multilateral naval exercise MILAN 2026, organized by the Indian navy in the port of Visakhapatnam from Feb. 15 to Feb. 25. The ministry said 74 countries had joined the events.
The Iranian warship was seen sailing at sea during the exercises in a Feb. 17 post on X by the Indian navy. Another image showed several of its crew members posing on deck with the Iranian flag in the background.
Araghchi stressed that the frigate had been “a guest" of India's navy. The Indian government has not yet publicly commented on the incident.
India has long viewed the Indian Ocean as central to its security, with its navy regularly conducting patrols and multinational exercises to safeguard key sea lanes used for global trade and energy shipments. It has also traditionally sought to maintain a careful diplomatic balance in tensions between the U.S. and Iran while emphasizing on diplomacy and talks.
Indian opposition leaders, however, on Thursday questioned the government’s lack of response to the incident, saying the sinking of the warship so close to India’s maritime neighborhood warranted an official statement.
The opposition Indian National Congress party slammed what it called “silence” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's government.
“The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post on X.
Kanwal Sibal, a former diplomat who served as India’s foreign secretary from 2002 to 2003, wrote on X that India was “far from politically or militarily responsible for the U.S. attack,” but its “responsibility is at a moral and human plane.”
“The U.S. has ignored India’s sensitivities," Sibal said. "The ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”
Saaliq reported from New Delhi. Associated Press journalist Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.
Healthcare workers unload from a vehicle, the bodies of Iranian sailors who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Nurses exit the National Hospital, where the sailors rescued from IRIS Dena warship by Sri Lanka's navy are treated in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Motorcycle mounted policemen patrol at the National Hospital where rescued Iranian sailors from the IRIS Dena warship by the Sri Lankan Navy are receiving treatment, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal during International Fleet Review held at Visakhapatnam, India, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo)
Healthcare workers unload from a vehicle, the bodies of Iranian sailors who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
