FC Bayern is champion of the women’s Bundesliga

It was one of those “of all things” moments that are often found in football: It was Saki Kumagai of all people who gave FC Bayern an early lead against relegated Turbine Potsdam on the 22nd and final day of the women’s Bundesliga and thus broke the nerves in the Championship race calmed down. With a two-point lead over pursuers VfL Wolfsburg, the Munich team “only” needed one win to clinch the championship title. How dramatically such a mandatory task can fail was demonstrated the day before at the season finale of the men’s Bundesliga by Borussia Dortmund – in favor of the men’s team of FC Bayern.

Perhaps it was also BVB’s warning example that Kumagai encouraged a little extra to ensure clear conditions early on. At her team’s first corner kick, she went forward and dusted the ball, which had been extended by national player Lina Magull, at the far post (4th minute). After the change of sides, she also scored the interim 9:0. In the end it was 11:1 (7:0) for the Munich team. The fact that Wolfsburg won 2-1 (2-1) against SC Freiburg was no longer significant.

Kumagai, who won the World Cup with Japan in 2011, switched from Olympique Lyon, Europe’s best team, to Munich in 2021 to also win titles with Bayern Munich. In her 64th and last competitive game for the FCB women, she finally fulfilled her wish. Her part in Bayern Women’s fourth German championship title since the Bundesliga was founded in 1990 was huge: as head of defence, Kumagai was largely responsible for ending the season as the top defender, conceding just seven goals, and she scored three goals up front – two of them hers last game.

Coach Alexander Straus achieves a masterpiece

It was also a special game for Kumagai’s coach Alexander Straus. The Norwegian won the championship in his first year in Munich. The 47-year-old started his coaching career in his home country in the men’s division – initially in the lower leagues, where he was successful as an assistant coach. His former head coach later brought him to the elite series as an assistant to first-division club Strømsgodset IF. Straus initially worked as an assistant coach, then as a specialist in player development. In 2017 he left Strømsgodset and switched to the women’s division. He was head coach of the women’s team at IL Sandviken in the 1st division for one season, then took over as head coach of the Norway U23 women’s national team and later that of the Norway U19 national team.

He eventually returned to Sandviken and won the club’s first championship with the team from the western Norwegian city of Bergen in 2021. In 2022, IL Sandviken merged with Brann Bergen and Straus was the first head coach at SK Brann Kvinner – but he didn’t stay long, moving to Munich in the summer of 2022 and taking on the company’s championship.

Although they were eliminated by Arsenal WFC in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and Wolfsburg were too strong in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, the championship means at least as much to the Munich team as one of the other titles. What was particularly impressive was the consistency of Straus’ team: after losing 2-1 to the “wolves” on matchday 5, the team went on a winning streak: until the goalless draw at Bayer Leverkusen on the previous matchday, the Munich team had won 15 times in series. The final victory against Potsdam was the 17th consecutive league game without defeat.

“Everyone is part of the success. To do this, everyone has to understand what his or her job is and do it,” Straus recently explained his philosophy of success in an interview with the Munich “Abendzeitung”. Not only the current success is important to him, but also the traces that he will leave as a coach in the club. “Long after my time, people should see how FC Bayern Munich has internalized how to play.” He has already left his first footprint as coach of FC Bayern Munich by winning the championship title.

Joint Masters Celebration

Incidentally, the FC Bayern men were also sitting in the stands of the stadium on the FC Bayern campus – already decked out in white shirts, traditional trousers and waistcoats. They watched their colleagues how to wrap up a championship without stress. Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller and Co. clapped politely with every goal and also cheered the handover of the championship trophy by national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Then we went straight to the heart of the city of Munich, to the joint championship celebration for the men’s and women’s teams on the town hall balcony at Munich’s Marienplatz.