Bayern beats Freiburg for Bundesliga points record

BERLIN (AP) — Despite fielding a second-string side, Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich broke the league record for points in a season by beating Freiburg 1-0 on Saturday and claiming its 14th successive victory.

The 19-year-old Emre Can scored with the lightest of touches to Xherdan Shaqiri's free kick in the 35th minute, enough for Bayern to extend its haul to 84 points with three games remaining.

Bayern had already wrapped up the title with six games to spare. The previous record of 81 points was set by Borussia Dortmund last season.

Both Bayern and Dortmund rested players ahead of their return legs in the Champions League semifinals at Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively.

Dortmund, which made 10 changes to the side that beat Madrid 4-1 midweek, survived a late scare to win 2-1 at Fortuna Duesseldorf.

"The lads did brilliantly. Pride is the right word, because it can't be taken for granted," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said.

Nuri Sahin scored with a swerving strike from 35 meters (yards) in the 20th, but the home side looked capable of equalizing until Klopp introduced Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski in the 69th.

Within a minute, Lewandowski found Sahin, who sprung the offside trap for Blaszczykowski to make it 2-0 with a cool finish.

Duesseldorf had a penalty appeal waved away before Adam Bodzek scored with two minutes remaining to set up a frantic finale, with Dortmund keeper Mitch Langerak saving on the line in injury time.

Lewandowski's Bundesliga scoring streak ended at a club-record 12 successive games.

Augsburg took a giant step toward Bundesliga survival with a 3-0 win at home over Stuttgart, thereby condemning Greuther Fuerth to relegation after its first season in the top flight. Augsburg remains in the relegation playoff place, with Fuerth 12 points adrift.

"The pressure is good for us," said Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl. "I know we'll give absolutely everything like that three times again."

Relegation candidate Hoffenheim beat Nuremberg 2-1, Wolfsburg defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1, and Bayer Leverkusen beat Werder Bremen 1-0 to leave Thomas Schaaf's side just two points ahead of Augsburg.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes made 10 changes from the side that defeated Barcelona, with defender Jerome Boateng the only survivor from Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Spanish league leader.

"We all have the same aim," Bayern defender Daniel van Buyten said. "We want to win titles. We're all marching forward. We have a strong subs' bench and nobody is envious."

Bayern stalwarts Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philip Lahm and Thomas Mueller didn't even make the bench, which boasted Franck Ribery, Mario Gomez, Arjen Robben, Dante, David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Despite creating relatively few scoring chances, Bayern was the more active side in the first half and just about deserved the opening goal, which was initially credited to Shaqiri when the ball nestled inside the far post from his dangerous free kick.

But the side failed to get out of second gear and there were even some whistles from the home fans at halftime.

"It was a tough bit of work today," Heynckes said. "But compliments to my squad. We player very cleverly, very professionally."

Stuttgart should have taken the lead in Augsburg and was made to rue missed chances when Sascha Moelders scored in the 61st.

Marcel de Jong then made it 2-0 with a delightful chip over the goalkeeper in the 83rd, two minutes before Ji Dong-Won put further gloss on the result.