Borussia Dortmund blows its best Bundesliga chance, and Bayern Munich wins a dramatic 11th straight title

The newly-crowned German champions were scheduled to begin their parade at precisely 12:09 p.m. on Sunday. They’d end Bayern Munich’s decade of dominance, then etch their names into Dortmund’s ceremonial Golden Book, then roll through yellow-lined streets in an open-top bus. They’d take a lap and a half around the Borsigplatz, Borussia Dortmund’s birthplace. They’d snake southwest, and through downtown, saluting hundreds of thousands of fans as they went.

Or at least that’s how Dortmund, the city and its soccer club, had planned to celebrate their impending 2022-23 Bundesliga title.

Instead, on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund blew it — and Bayern won it again.

All Dortmund needed was a win over Mainz, a nondescript team who’d lost four straight games and had nothing to play for. Instead, before an expectant and ear-splitting crowd of 81,365, with thousands more preparing to explode in celebration outside, Dortmund conceded an early goal, then missed a penalty, then conceded again.

With Bayern winning at Köln, Dortmund threw on attackers in search of the three goals it would need to flip an unsavory script. Instead, Dortmund’s greatest hope came from Köln, who equalized against Bayern and reignited the Signal Iduna Park. As it stood, for eight fleeting minutes, the title would be Dortmund’s.

But in the 89th minute in Köln, with Dortmund still losing 2-1, Jamal Musiala scored to win Bayern an 11th consecutive title.

Dortmund found a late equalizer, but needed a winner and never got it. Players feel to their needs. Some 80,000 fans fell silent. And the streak will extend into a second decade.