Bayern Munich confirmed their tenth successive Bundesliga title on Saturday evening, beating arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund 3-1 at a raucous Allianz Arena.

First-half strikes from Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski, supplemented by Jamal Musiala’s late goal, sealed what turned out to be a well-controlled victory for Die Roten, securing the Meisterschale amid what has been a rocky patch in recent weeks and months.

A tentative start from both sides on Saturday produced little goalmouth action in the early stages but, after getting a grip on proceedings, Julian Nagelsmann’s men started to pull strings and found themselves in the lead after 15 minutes courtesy of a stunner from Gnabry.

Climbing highest from a corner, Leon Goretzka showed great awareness to pick Gnabry out on the edge of the area, before the winger very calmly took a touch with his knee, setting himself up nicely to fire a vicious volley into a rooted Marwin Hitz’s top corner.

What a strike!!

How to spice up #DerKlassiker, courtesy of @FCBayernEN’s @SergeGnabry. ?‍?

1-0 #FCBBVB pic.twitter.com/rZd3gRdztO

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) April 23, 2022

With Die Roten continuing to dominate proceedings, Gnabry was off celebrating once more on the half-hour mark. This time, however, the German was brought back down to earth by a VAR check that caught Kingsley Coman in an offside position during the build-up to his eventual tap in.

Far from disheartened, though, Bayern were able to run off and soak up the admiration of their delirious fans as they legally doubled their lead just four minutes later. Lewandowski grabbed his customary goal against BVB as he latched onto Thomas Muller’s through pass and slid the ball through Hitz’s legs in typically devastating fashion.

Find @Lewy_Official and HE WILL score! ⚽?#DerKlassiker @FCBayernEN pic.twitter.com/ZcgxvxqksC

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) April 23, 2022

Leading 2-0 at the break, Nagelsmann’s side came out for the resumption of play well in the ascendancy, but were soon pegged back by a defensive error from Joshua Kimmich – of all people.

The midfielder’s rash challenge on Marco Reus in the penalty area afforded Borussia Dortmund the opportunity to get back in the game, which Emre Can duly accepted by thumping his spot kick into Manuel Neuer’s bottom corner and setting the visitors away on a 20-minute resurgent period.

As champions do, however, Bayern did well to overcome that spell (much to the credit of Neuer’s composed goalkeeping and Lucas Hernandez’s heroic defending) and regain control of the game.

Not satisfied with two, in fact, Die Roten aimed to kill their subsequently fatigued opposition off and, after Lewandowski had passed up the chance to notch a third, substitute Jamal Musiala was on hand to finally make sure of the title.

A quick game of penalty-box pinball concluded in Marcel Sabitzer’s goalward header falling to the feet of the teenager, who made no mistake in taking a touch to steady himself before lashing the ball into the Dortmund net.

Following some understandably ecstatic celebrations, Nagelsmann’s men were able to see out the 3-1 victory easily enough and mathematically seal the Bundesliga title to become the first team in history to win ten successive top-flight titles in Europe’s top five leagues.

Some beer-soaked celebrations of that fact, funnily enough, booted out recent Champions League heartbreak out of mind – for now, anyway.

GK: Manuel Neuer – 7/10 – Beaten by a penalty but crucially denied Reus in a one-on-one situation minutes after – that’s why he’s been at the top for so long.

CB: Benjamin Pavard – 7/10 – Gave his opposition little joy going forward and also represented a threat when given the opportunity to venture forward and pick a pass.

CB: Dayot Upamecano – 6/10 – Dealt very well with Erling Haaland early on but you could see him struggling as the visitors grew in confidence after the break.

CB: Lucas Hernandez – 7/10 – Read play typically well, constantly looking composed as he managed five ball recoveries, and notably put in a certain goal-saving challenge on Reus as BVB looked to equalise in the second half.

RM: Serge Gnabry – 8/10 – Notched a superb goal to open the scoring -a deserved reward for yet another tireless display.

CM: Joshua Kimmich – 7/10 – Characterisitcally pivotal at the heart of the side, just effortlessly keeping things ticking along nicely and screening his defence impressively, making five interceptions – a fantastic showing spoiled by one stupid (but luckily not fatal) foul.

CM: Leon Goretzka – 7/10 – Nice headed assist for Gnabry’s strike and continued to provide a powerful presence in the final third while also battling away in midfield, winning possession seven times.

LM: Alphonso Davies – 6/10 – Sturdy in all he did but disappointingly didn’t get into the final third as much as he’s famed for.

RF: Thomas Muller – 6/10 – Pretty anonymous for the majority but popped up to provide a perfectly weighted assist for Bayern’s second and looked understandably content on becoming a Bundesliga champion for a league-record 11th time.

ST: Robert Lewandowski – 6/10 – Not an overly inspiring display but produced a classy finish to double his side’s lead and score the title-securing goal.

LF: Kingsley Coman – 5/10 – Made some brilliant runs and proved a constant thorn in the side, but waned as the game rolled on.

SUB: Jamal Musiala (63′, for Gnabry) – 8/10 – Heavily involved in his side’s build-up play after his introduction and immediately asked difficult questions, before finishing well to send the Allianz Arena wild.

SUB: Leroy Sane (82′, for Coman) – 5/10 – Not much of an impact after entering the field of play.

SUB: Marcel Sabitzer (82′, for Muller) – 6/10 – Will claim that lucky assist all day long.

SUB: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (93′, for Lewandowski) – N/A

SUB: Niklas Sule (93′, for Kimmich) – N/A

GK: Marwin Hitz – 5/10 – No chance whatsoever with the first and not much of a prayer with the second or third. Made a stunning stop to deny Lewandowski a brace in the second half, though – that’s something, I suppose.

RB: Marius Wolf – 6/10 – The obvious target in the side, Wolf fared well on the back foot, making five ball recoveries, but ironically looked flustered when having to progress play upfield.

CB: Dan-Axel Zagadou – 4/10 – Showed good strength and aerial prowess for the most part, but was too easily undone on the ground – notably making the costly error that led to the hosts‘ second.

CB: Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Didn’t do much wrong at all but simply wasn’t helped by the holes his colleagues left.

LB: Raphael Guerreiro – 5/10 – Made one goal-saving intervention in the first half, but really struggled against Bayern’s right flank for the most part.

CM: Emre Can – 6/10 – Showed good composure and awareness in his defensive duties, although gradually lost control in the midfield battle (and his head) as time progressed. Redeemed himself with a well-taken penalty, in fairness.

CM: Jude Bellingham – 6/10 – Fantastic energy and sporadically showed the raw attacking quality that gets fans on their feet, but couldn’t quite exert the influence he’s capable of.

AM: Marco Reus – 6/10 – Improved after the interval and started to cause severe trouble with his movement, quickly winning a penalty and getting in behind a couple of times to find himself thwarted by excellent defensive work.

RW: Julian Brandt – 6/10 – Was generally Dortmund’s brightest spark but, while he occasionally lit things up, his influence was far too dim to really affect things.

ST: Erling Haaland – 5/10 – Held play up well and gave his colleagues a great focal point, but he was afforded little service in front of goal to do what he does best; even so, he had one opportunity to level things 10 minutes from time but will have nightmares about his skied half-volley.

LW: Reinier – 4/10 – Pressed well but seemed completely overwhelmed by his world-class opposition and couldn’t really show any offensive quality.

SUB: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (67′, for Reinier) – 5/10 – Plenty of heart, but the youngster’s introduction obviously wasn’t going to turn things around.

SUB: Youssouffa Moukoko (87′, for Haaland) – N/A

SUB: Felix Passlack (87′, for Wolf) – N/A