Leverkusen, three points away from the Bundesliga title after Bayern’s defeat

Berlin. Bayer Leverkusen could confirm the Bundesliga title next weekend after Bayern Munich blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to newly promoted Heidenheim on Saturday.

Florian Wirtz’s penalty was enough for Leverkusen to beat Union Berlin 1-0 and move within 16 points of Bayern with six games remaining.

With Leverkusen’s ninth consecutive victory, they extended the German record for consecutive games without losing to 41.

And now they only need a victory in their remaining duels to win their first Bundesliga title. Leverkusen’s next game is on April 14, hosting Werder Bremen.

Xabi Alonso’s team is almost guaranteed to win the title even without Bayern’s help. But the Bavarian team, which has 11 consecutive titles, is far from what it used to be after suffering its sixth defeat. This is Bayern’s second defeat in a row after they lost the classic against Borussia Dortmund last week.

Harry Kane is the only positive in a disappointing campaign.

Serge Gnabry assisted Kane in the 38th minute to take the Briton to 32 goals in the league, although the striker had to wait for the VAR to approve the goal due to suspicion of non-league status.

Gnarby scored Bayern’s second with a header before halftime, but Kevin Sessa brought the rivals closer and Tim Kleindienst tied the game before scoring the winning goal in the 79th. It is the first time that Heidenheim has beaten Bayern, who now will face visiting Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Also, Cologna scored twice in added time to beat Bochum 2-1, in the fight for permanence. Mainz beat last-place Darmstadt 4-0 and Leipzig beat Freiburg 4-1.