Record-breaking Bayern Munich were confirmed German league champions on Tuesday with a 3-1 win at Hertha Berlin as Pep Guardiola's side secured the title with seven games to spare. In his debut season, Guardiola has now won three titles in nine months after last August's UEFA Super Cup triumph and December's Club World Cup success.
Bayern's 19th consecutive Bundesliga win secured the 24th German league title of their history, and the victory at Berlin's Olympic Stadium was never in doubt after they raced into a 2-0 lead with just 15 minutes gone. Bayern have also taken one game off their own record, set last season, for the earliest confirmed league win.
Midfielder Toni Kroos slammed home an early strike before Mario Goetze headed their second to set the Bavarian giants on their way to collecting all three points. Hertha's Colombia striker Adrian Ramos netted a penalty before France winger Franck Ribery came off the bench to net a superb third.
With seven games left, Bayern have an unassailable 25-point lead from second-placed Borussia Dortmund, although in truth the title race has been over for weeks already.
Dortmund held onto second place with a goalless draw at home to third-placed local rivals Schalke 04 with no trouble reported despite security concerns seeing some 3000 police officers deployed for the match.
VfL Wolfsburg moved up to fifth with a 3-1 win at mid-table Werder Bremen as Junior Malanda, Ivan Perisic and Germany Under-21 attacking midfielder Maximilian Arnold, who is still only 19, found the net for the visitors. Centre-back Sebastian Proedl netted a consolation for Bremen.
Bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig breathed some life into their survival fight with a shock 3-1 win at home to seventh-placed Mainz 05 as Congolese-born captain Dominick Kumbela scored twice. The result keeps things tight at the foot of the table with just four points separating the bottom five teams.
On Wednesday, South Korea's Son Heung-Min hit a superb late goal to help Sami Hyypia's Bayer Leverkusen claim their first win in ten games in Wednesday's 3-1 Bundesliga victory at Augsburg.
Having previously tasted victory at the start of February, Leverkusen's miserable run of results saw them slip from second to fourth in the table, crashing out of both the Champions League and German Cup in the process.
Victory at Augsburg broke a streak of eight defeats in their last nine games in all competitions and eased the pressure on Hyypia, 40, who is in his first season as head coach.
VfB Stuttgart remain second from bottom after they crashed to a 2-0 defeat at fellow relegation-candidates Nuremberg. Fellow former German league giants Hamburg, who are fighting to avoid a historic first relegation from Germany's top-flight, drew 1-1 with Freiburg to stay 16th of 18 teams.
Borussia Moenchengladbach drop to sixth, amongst the Europa League berths, after a 1-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, who are up to 11th after their second consecutive win. Mid-table Hoffenheim won 3-1 at home to ten-man Hanover 96, who had midfielder Manuel Schmiedebach sent off for a foul on Anthony Modeste.
The fixtures:
The matches on Tuesday (8 pm cet):
Borussia Dortmund - Schalke 04 0-0
Hertha BSC - Bayern München 1-3 (0-2)
Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg 1-3 (1-2)
Eintracht Braunschweig - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3-1 (2-1)
The matches on Wednesday (8 pm cet):
1. FC Nürnberg - VfB Stuttgart 2-0 (1-0)
Hamburger SV - SC Freiburg 1-1 (0-0)
Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 (1-0)
1899 Hoffenheim - Hannover 96 3-1 (1-1)
FC Augsburg - Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 (0-1)