Bayern stunned as Heynckes bids farewell
Bayern Munich finished the Bundesliga season with a shock 4-1 home defeat to Stuttgart, as the final league game of Jupp Heynckes' second spell in charge ended in disappointment.
The league champion was blown away by the visitor's slick counter-attack, as Anastasios Donis, Chadrac Akolo and a double from Daniel Ginczek ended a 38-match unbeaten run at home in the top flight.
The loss, only Bayern's fourth under Heynckes this season, somewhat soured the title celebrations at Allianz Area, as Bayern got its hands on the trophy for the sixth season in a row while saying goodbye to its coach.
Heynckes, who will step down after the DFB-Pokal final, and former Bayern defender Holger Badstuber were given special tributes before kick-off, but Stuttgart looked determine to spoil the party and snatched the lead through Ginczek after only five minutes.
Corentin Tolisso equalised but Donis scored a brilliant second for Stuttgart just before half-time, and two goals in three minutes after the restart from Akolo and Ginczek again left the hosts stunned.
Bayern still celebrated its title win with gusto after full-time, while Stuttgart, which has taken 31 points since Tayfun Korkut took over in January, can now still qualify for the UEFA Europa League if Heynckes' side wins the DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The lively atmosphere was soon dampened when Ginczek tapped home at the far post after Donis burst easily past Rafinha and Mats Hummels to the right of the Bayern area.
Donis unluckily helped Bayern level the scores 21 minutes in, though. His deflection sent the ball to Robert Lewandowski, who dribbled his way into the box and was brought down by Ron-Robert Zieler, allowing Tolisso to side-foot into an empty net.
Zieler denied Lewandowski's point-blank header and clawed away a Tolisso strike from 12 yards, but Bayern was hit by another sucker punch on the counter before the interval. Donis stole the ball off the feet of Thiago Alcantara on halfway, left Hummels for dead and slotted a fine finish past Sven Ulreich.
Six minutes after the restart, the visitors stunned the home crowd with another sublime break. Ginczek combined with Emiliano Insua to carve open Bayern's right flank, and the full-back's first-time cross was nodded into the roof of the net via the turf by Akolo.
Bayern's remarkably lacklustre approach was punished further barely three minutes later. Erik Thommy's free header 12 yards out was well saved by Ulreich, but Ginczek poked in the rebound under no pressure from the watching defenders, as Stuttgart became only the second visiting team to score four times at Allianz Arena in a league match.
Thiago wasted a good chance to get a goal back in a quiet last half-hour, leaving Bayern to reflect on a first home league defeat since Mainz won 2-1 in March 2016, while Stuttgart must now hope for a favour in the cup final to seal a European spot.
