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Aubameyang brace fires Borussia Dortmund into Champions League

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BERLIN: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-3 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday to finish as the Bundesliga’s top-scorer and seal his side’s direct Champions League place on a dramatic final day of the season.


Aubameyang finished with 31 goals, one more than Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, who failed to score in the champions’ 4-1 home win over Freiburg.


There was drama at the bottom of the table as Hamburg guaranteed their survival with an 88th-minute goal to seal a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg.


Two minutes after coming on, Luca Waldschmidt’s header, the day after his 21st birthday, sealed Hamburg’s win which lifted them to 14th and dropped Wolfsburg to 16th. With Darmstadt and Ingolstadt already relegated, the 2009 German champions, now face a two-legged relegation play-off to stay up.


In Munich, Bayern were handed the Bundesliga trophy for the fifth season in a row, extending the record for most wins, and finished with a 15-point margin.


Bayern farewelled Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso, both World Cup winners, who are retiring after glorious careers.


It was the eighth time Lahm has won the Bundesliga, his fifth as captain, putting him equal with Bayern legends Oliver Kahn, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mehmet Scholl.


Arjen Robben got the party started in Munich by giving the hosts the lead after just four minutes when he slotted home Alonso’s superb diagonal pass.


Bayern doubled their lead when Arturo Vidal’s curling shot beat the Freiburg goalkeeper on 73 minutes.


Ex-Bayern striker Nils Petersen came on to claim Freiburg’s consolation on 76 minutes and set a new record of 19 Bundesliga goals off the bench.


Franck Ribery and Joshua Kimmich scored injury-time goals to seal Bayern’s win. — AFP


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