Borussia Dortmund clinch Bundesliga title
- Published
Borussia Dortmund celebrate their title victory
Borussia Dortmund secured the German Bundesliga title with two games to spare on Saturday when they beat Nuremberg 2-0.
Closest rivals Bayer Leverkusen lost by the same score at struggling Cologne.
The two results left Dortmund with an unassailable eight points ahead of Leverkusen with two matches each to play.
Goals by Lucas Barrios and Robert Lewandowski gave them their seventh title and their first since 2002.
The second half was played in a festive atmosphere in front of more than 70,000 fans, especially after Leverkusen fell behind in their game.
Borussia have won 22 of their 32 games and lost only four, despite key players Nuri Sahin and Shinji Kagawa suffering long-term injuries.
In Spain, Real Madrid lost their second home match in a row after a 3-2 defeat by struggling Zaragoza.
Following their loss at home to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho's side were far from their best and any lingering hopes of clinching the La Liga title appear to be diminished.
Angel Lafita scored twice then Gabriel Fernandez scored a penalty in the 54th minute after Ricardo Carvalho muscled Lafita down inside the area.
Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema got the goals for the home side.
It is only the second time Mourinho has suffered two consecutive home defeats as manager. The last time it occured was with Porto in February, 2002.
The Portuguese will rue his side's defeat all the more in the wake of Barcelona's 2-1 loss at Real Sociedad later in the day.
Thiago Alcantara gave Barcelona a first-half lead, leaving the champions on course to match Sociedad's record of 32 games without defeat, which dates back to the 1979/80 season.
But Diego Ifran equalised on 71 minutes and when Javier Mascherano tripped Antoine Griezmann 10 minutes later, Xavier Prieto stepped up to secure victory for Sociedad from the penalty spot.
Notwithstanding Barcelona's first league defeat since September, the situation at the top of the table remains unchanged.
Barca lead on 88 points, eight clear of Real. Both sides have four games left to play.