Pep Guardiola and his men looked to avoid a fourth successive league defeat as they hosted mid-table Mainz 05 in their final fixture of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign. It was not going to be an easy fixture for the Bavarians, as they were up against a tough Mainz side who have shown their quality, particularly against the bigger clubs, this season.
The start of the match was delayed by around five or six minutes, as the pre-match festivities were being observed as the champions were presented with a hero's welcome around the ground from both sets of fans. There were pryotechnics, a brass band, the full works as Bayern were celebrating their 25th league title triumph.
STAT: This was Bastian Schweinsteiger's 500th match for the Reds, and he himself was given a special reception as the team's were doing their pre-match handshakes.
The match itself started brightly, with Thomas Müller coming close to scoring a headed opener after just six minutes, but for a crucial stop by Loris Karius at his near post. Then just a few minutes later, Schweinsteiger played a neat one-two with a team-mate in midfield before almost setting through Müller, but the lofted through ball pass narrowly evaded the forward, as Karius did well to rush off his line and intercept the danger. The hosts were roaring loudly, you could tell they wanted to see a five-star performance from their side after recent disappointments in the past few weeks.
Robert Lewandowski put his body on the line in an attempt to break the deadlock after 13 minutes; and was on the receiving end of an unfortunate whack to the side of his face by Karius in an aerial challenge to win the ball, the same side in which he fractured his cheekbones earlier this month. Thankfully for the Polish striker though, he was able to shake off the knock and continue playing, despite looking in discomfort for a few minutes.
Mainz were defensively organised in the early going of the match, and were doing most of the running to press their opponents whilst they were off-the-ball in midfield, but the visitors had struggled to have many half-chances to score or even test Manuel Neuer in the first-half.
Yunus Malli ran through towards the penalty area, but was cynically stopped with a sliding challenge by Juan Bernat, who was arguably lucky not to be booked for the foul, as it was deliberate because he knew the forward was driving through past defenders towards the box. The referee, Thorsten Kinhöfer, gave the Spaniard a talking to, as the youngster smirked with a cheeky grin after getting away without a booking.
Then, Karius was forced into making a great acrobatic diving save to parry away a fierce effort from range, from an unlikely source. The ball was teed off, 25 yards out, and centre-back Jerome Boateng, who has not scored a goal all season, hammered towards goal with his shot appearing to creep in at the far post, but for an important touch away by the German 'keeper.
The resulting corner-kick was drilled into the box and an attempted effort flashed off the hand of Niko Bungert, who could have no complaints as the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Lewandowski stood up to take the strike, and powered home with his side-foot, sending Karius the wrong way in the process to score his 17th league goal of the campaign.
Stefan Bell, scorer of a brace in their 2-1 victory over FC Schalke 04 a few weeks back, was penalized for a cynical trip on Bernat, who was advancing down the flank towards the goal. Xabi Alonso's whipped free-kick curled perfectly into the path of Brazilian centre-back Dante, whose header flashed inches wide of the post with the Mainz players looking on with gratitude that they did not find themselves two-goals down.
35 minutes played, and Bayern unsurprisingly had dominated possession, with 73% recorded to Mainz' lowly 27%. The visitors were unable to do much worth noting with the ball, and although they did a valiant effort containing the Bavarians in attack, they could not warrant scoring a goal or two of their own.
A teasing delivery was whipped into the box by Johannes Geis, for a team-mate in space inside the area, but Malli completely missed the ball with the goal gaping and the golden opportunity to test Neuer agonisingly vanishing before his eyes. That chance epitomised Mainz's performance in the first 45, having the potential to succeed, but not actually getting there.
The half-time whistle eventually blew, with Munich going into the interval with a slender one-goal lead intact. As the second-half began, Bayern picked up from where they left off in the first 45. Lewandowski went from goal-scorer into provider, as he got an assist to his name after some unselfish play in the box teed up the possibility of a strike from Bastian Schweinsteiger, who curled a finesse shot into the corner of the net, out of Karius' reach, on his 500th appearance for the Bavarians too!
Mitchell Weiser got 45 minutes under his belt having come on in place of Muller as the second-half began, whilst Guardiola made another change in the 54th minute, taking off Alonso in place of German midfielder Sebastian Rode. Meanwhile the visitors, managed by Martin Schmidt, saw a sub of their own as Daniel Brosinski was replaced by Shinji Okazaki in an attack-minded substitution.
Mainz's attempts to get back into the game were limp, and to be fair, they looked lacklustre going forward for the majority of the game and this did not change much in the second 45. Good reactions from Neuer when called upon, very infrequently. But, the goalkeeper who was heavily involved in the action, was Karius. He made save after save to keep the scores respectable, as Bayern continued to pile on the pressure. Claudio Pizarro was introduced into the fray, in place of Lewandowski, with the Polish striker unable to add to his impressive goal-scoring tally for the season and pip Alex Meier of Eintracht Frankfurt to the league's top scorer.
He himself was unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet, but for a great stop from point-blank range TWICE by Karius. First, just a minute after coming onto the pitch. Then, Mario Götze did well to skin his marker near the edge of the area before firing a low ball into the Peruvian's path, but for another strong hand from Loris to deny him.
With the clock ticking down on the afternoon, the referee looked at his whistle and eventually, called time on the match. FULL-TIME: Bayern Munich 2-0 FSV Mainz 05, meaning Pep Guardiola's men could officially start the party!