Monchengladbach, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Bayern Munich clinched its third straight Bundesliga title on Sunday without stepping onto the field as second-place Wolfsburg lost 1-0 at Monchengladbach to a late goal from Max Kruse.
Bayern's 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday meant that anything less than a Wolfsburg win on Sunday would hand the Bavarians the title.
And as time ticked away and the match remained scoreless, Bayern was preparing to celebrate. Those celebrations then hit full force when Kruse scored in the game's final minute, leaving Wolfsburg 15 points back of Bayern with four matches remaining.
The result also allows Monchengladbach to move into third place and clinch at least a top-four spot.
Wolfsburg looked to be off the pace a bit throughout the match and it was the home side that asked most of the questions with Patrick Herrmann coming close in the first half as he steered a cross from Kruse just wide.
Goalkeeper Diego Benaglio kept out a well-struck volley from Herrmann after the break, but he couldn't keep out Kruse in the closing moments as the forward arrived at the back post to beat Benaglio for the winning goal.
Sunday's other contest saw Paderborn squander a two-goal lead against Werder Bremen in a 2-2 draw.
Goals from Mario Vrancic and Moritz Stoppelkamp in the opening 30 minutes handed Paderborn a 2-0 lead, but those tallies were canceled out by Davie Selke and Izet Hajrovic, denying Paderborn three valuable points and leaving the club one point from safety.
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