Bayern juggernaut rolls on

Football Foreign round-up

Bayern Munich clinched the Bundesliga title in record time by beating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Tuesday thanks to goals from Toni Kroos, Mario Gotze and Franck Ribery with seven games left in the campaign.

Last season's treble winners claimed their 23rd Bundesliga crown with a 10th straight away victory, stretching their winning streak to a staggering 19 consecutive league games and their unbeaten run to 52 league matches – all Bundesliga records.

They have an unassailable 25-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who were runners-up last term, with 21 points to play for in Guardiola's first season in charge.

It did not take long for Bayern to show they meant business in front of a sell-out 76,000 Olympic stadium crowd, with Kroos slotting in a deflected clearance in the sixth minute and Gotze heading home Bastian Schweinsteiger's cross in the 14th.

Adrian Ramos pulled one back for the hosts with a well-taken penalty in the 66th minute to inject some life into the second half as Bayern took their foot off the gas. But Frenchman Ribery, who had come on as a substitute, completed a dazzling move, after a silky run and pass from Gotze, when he chipped the ball over goalkeeper Thomas Kraft to wrap up the points and the title.

Bayern's success was their 24th German league title because they were also champions once – in the 1931/32 season – before the Bundesliga was created in 1963. Dortmund could do nothing to prevent Tuesday's celebrations in the capital after drawing 0-0 in their Ruhr valley derby at home to Schalke 04.

Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp was quick to congratulate Bayern. "It is very impressive how Bayern did it," he told reporters.