Bayern ooze efficiency in 25th league title win

By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayern Munich's 25th German league title victory on Sunday came as no real surprise with the Bavarians having only their own records to beat in a season that they turned into a procession. Bayern shot out of the blocks and never looked back even when players like Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez were ruled out early in the campaign. With six wins in their opening eight games and just two goals conceded, it became clear early on that the champions, who had 10 players at the World Cup, were hardly suffering from any tournament fatigue. Coach Pep Guardiola, in his second season in charge, had declared the title their top goal but the expected challenge from last year's runners-up Borussia Dortmund never materialised as they recorded one of their worst starts. Bayern had carved out a seven-point lead over the field by matchday 12. With Arjen Robben in sensational form until his injury in March, rivals had to wait until the new year for Bayern's first Bundesliga reverse, a 4-1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg. Yet with a growing injury list as they targetted three trophies, Bayern had at times only 14 outfield players in the squad. So Guardiola quickly adapted his team's style to fit the needs, fashioning a more defensive outfit that preferred to relinquish possession while eking out a result rather than to follow their normal goal-chasing instincts. The plan's success was evident as they beat improving Dortmund 1-0 in April. The injury list also included luminaries like Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Holger Badstuber and Philipp Lahm. "I never had so many injured. I have never experienced this in my life. But we cannot complain, we must keep going," Guardiola said weeks ago when the situation looked critical. Yet his squad's strength in depth proved in a class of its own as Bayern continued to win, culminating in the lacklustre yet efficient 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin on Saturday that gave them an unassailable 15-point lead with four matches left. Now ready for his old club Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, Guardiola has set his sights on another treble after the 2013 feat, which occurred months before his arrival. For Bayern remain as hungry as ever. "A league title is never anything normal," said Bayern's sports director Matthias Sammer. "It is a big title, an important title, an honest title. But one wants more." (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ian Chadband)