BERLIN — Spain defender Juan Bernat netted the only goal of the game as champion Bayern Munich beat Darmstadt 1-0 Saturday, a result that confirmed its opponent’s relegation.
Bayern, Bundesliga champion for the fifth year in a row, was made to work for victory at the Allianz Arena and Torsten Frings' Darmstadt might have snatched a point, but Hamit Altintop's late penalty was saved.
Darmstadt had put its relegation on hold by recording three straight wins.
Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern broke the deadlock when Franck Ribery's mazy run on the left flank played Bernat into the area.
The left-back beat two defenders, then coolly chipped Darmstadt goalkeeper Michael Esser for the 18th-minute goal that proved to be the winner.
However, the Spaniard conceded a penalty with five minutes left by fouling Darmstadt substitute Sven Schipplock.
Altintop, playing against his former club, had his spot-kick saved by Tom Starke, who was making his first league appearance this season in the Bayern goal.
Bayern is 13 points ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, which is at Hertha Berlin later.
Darmstadt is now an insurmountable nine points from safety with just two games left.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund took a big step toward a direct Champions League place next season by climbing into third with a 2-1 win at home to Hoffenheim, which slipped to fourth.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second-half header which proved the winner saw him join Bayern's Robert Lewandowski on 28 goals in the race to be the Bundesliga's top scorer.
Hoffenheim is now two points behind Dortmund with two games remaining.
Ingolstadt, 17th in the table, still has a chance of staying up after its 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
Winger Andre Hahn scored a 94th-minute equaliser in mid-table Borussia Moenchengladbach's 1-1 draw with Augsburg, whose Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason netted their goal.
Wolfsburg is now three points clear of the bottom three after its 2-0 win at Eintracht.
PSG crushes Bastia
Paris St Germain maintained its slim Ligue 1 title hopes as the defending champion crushed Bastia 5-0 at home Saturday.
PSG moved level with Monaco, which has two games in hand, on 83 points with two games left.
Monaco, which has a better goal difference, was playing at Nancy later Saturday. — Agencies
