Bayern Munich 4 Freiburg 1: Robben stars as champions bid farewell to Lahm and Alonso + Highlight

Bayern Munich bade farewell to Philipp Lahm and
Xabi Alonso in fitting fashion with a 4-1 win over
Freiburg on the final day of the Bundesliga season.
Arjen Robben, Arturo Vidal, Franck Ribery and
Joshua Kimmich sealed a 25th win of the season
for the champions and ensured they went a whole
league campaign without defeat at the Allianz
Arena for the first time since 2008.
The match was largely a tribute act to club captain
Lahm and Alonso, however, who played their final
matches before retiring from respective glittering
careers.
Past greats of the club were presented to the crowd
prior to kick-off before Lahm, ahead of his 517th
appearance for Bayern, was granted a special
tribute involving flowers, a golf bag and a mosaic
in the stands with the message 'from a child of our
own to a legend of our club'.
It was Alonso who produced the first telling
contribution of the two, however, setting up Robben
to cut in from the right and rifle home.
Freiburg still had a top-five finish up for grabs and
missed good chances through Mike Frantz, Janik
Haberer and Nils Petersen before Vidal struck 17
minutes from time.
Former Bayern man Petersen struck his 19th
Bundesliga goal as a substitute to set a new
record, but Carlo Ancelotti's side were not to be
denied as Alonso and Lahm were replaced in the
closing stages to a rapturous reception before
Ribery bundled home a stoppage-time third and
Kimmich - tipped to be either retiring great's heir in
the team - nodded in to round off the party.
Bayern, sporting their new home kit, started like a
team eager to mark the occasion with a result to
match and they took the lead with only four
minutes on the clock.
Robben was allowed time to move into the penalty
area from the right and his left-foot shot looked to
take a slight deflection as it flew beyond Alexander
Schwolow and into the far corner.
Thomas Muller forced Schwolow into another good
low save before Robert Lewandowski found the net,
only to be flagged offside.
Freiburg had scarcely threatened in the first 25
minutes but Bayern keeper Tom Starke – whose
retirement has slipped under the radar amid the
tributes to Lahm and Alonso – produced a superb
one-handed save to keep out a deflected effort
from Frantz.
Haberer then sliced a glorious chance wide of the
left-hand post from six yards before Vincenzo Grifo
tested Starke from close range, and Lewandowski
was promptly denied by Schwolow on the break as
the match suddenly opened up.
There was a lengthy delay to the start of the
second period, with officials bizarrely struggling to
dismantle the temporary stage that had been set up
for Anastacia's half-time performance, but Bayern
looked as slick as ever as Lewandowski forced
Schwolow into a brilliant reaction stop within a
minute of the whistle.
Starke clawed away a bouncing half-volley from
Florian Niederlechner in one of Freiburg's better
spells and Bayern thought they had snatched a
second through Muller on the break only for Lahm
to have strayed offside before setting him up.
Robben smacked the crossbar from 20 yards but
Starke was again called upon to preserve Bayern's
lead, saving twice from former team-mate Petersen
as Freiburg chased the equaliser that would have
lifted them back into the Europa League spots -
they will now be supporting Borussia Dortmund in
the DFB-Pokal in order to qualify.
And their attacking efforts ultimately cost them as
Vidal made it 2-0 with a stylish finish, sweeping a
disguised finish into the bottom-right corner from
the edge of the area after Robben teed him up.
Starke was denied a clean sheet on his final outing
as Petersen halved the deficit three minutes later to
surpass Alexander Zickler as the Bundesliga's
most deadly substitute.
But Bayern made the win secure in injury time,
Robben bursting into the Freiburg half on the break
before squaring for Ribery to bundle the ball in via
post and goalkeeper, before Kimmich added a
fourth with the last touch of the match.