Bayern Munich players celebrated in front of empty stands after claiming its 20th German Cup title on Saturday.
The team showed its domestic dominance by defeating Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in the country’s first cup final held without supporters present, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“(It’s) a bit sad when the fans are missing for such a cup final in such a great stadium,” Bayern forward Thomas Muller said. “I was thinking about it during the award ceremony. It hurts a bit.” Bayern, which had already conquered its eighth consecutive Bundesliga title, retained the cup with goals from David Alaba, Serge Gnabry and two from Robert Lewandowski as he passed the 50-goal mark for this season.
It was Bayern’s second consecutive league and cup double, its 13th overall.
Now Bayern is targeting the reorganized Champions League in August as it bids to repeat the treble-winning season under Jupp Heynckes in 2013.
Leverkusen had been chasing its first title of any sort since 1993, when it last won the cup. Since then it has finished runner-up on nine occasions in different competitions, triggering taunts of “Vicekusen” from rivals.
Supporters were omitted from Berlin’s 75,000-capacity Olympiastadion. Only 691 people were allowed, including Germany coach Joachim Löw, who watched while wearing a black facemask and smart suit.
Hygiene measures were strict. Normally noisy roads would be teeming with traffic and fans ahead of the German soccer showpiece, but the area was eerily quiet before kickoff.
Fast food vendor Sven Grosch was the only one who opened his kiosk to sell sausages, beer and fries. He waited wearily with his arms folded behind his counter as only a trickle of curious onlookers passed by.
“It’s just sad without fans,” Grosch told The Associated Press. He said he had received state help to help him overcome the financial hit from the pandemic, “but it’s not sustainable. I hope supporters are allowed back at games sooner rather than later.” German soccer officials are in talks about permitting a limited number of supporters to games with strict social distancing measures when the new season starts in September, but nobody can say when stadiums will be filled to capacity as before.
Germany has confirmed almost 200,000 cases of COVID-19 but has kept its death toll relatively low at just over 9,000. The Bundesliga was the first European league to resume from suspensions caused by the pandemic.
