Dortmund completes domestic double with rout of archrival

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes admitted the Champions League finalist suffered a defensive "catastrophe" after it was blasted 5-2 by Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final.

Bundesliga champion Dortmund claimed the first domestic double in its 103-year history while Bayern was left shell-shocked ahead of Saturday's Champions League final (Sunday China time) against Chelsea at its own Allianz Arena.

"We cannot complain. Our entire defensive play was a catastrophe," said Heynckes. "We have to take the blame and we did not deserve to win. We still have a major goal in mind and I think we will have all recovered from the shock by the Champions League final. That will be a completely different game."

Germany coach Joachim Loew admitted he was shocked by the margin of Dortmund's win.

"I would never have expected such a result," he said. "Mainly because of Dortmund's second half performance, the victory was deserved.

"Bayern need to produce a huge reaction now against Chelsea."

After winning the German league title by eight points from Bayern, Dortmund continued its domination with its fifth consecutive win against Munich in the sold-out final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

Unbeaten in its past 23 games in all competitions since last December, Dortmund has yet to lose in 2012.

Goals by Japan star Shinji Kagawa, a penalty from Germany defender Mats Hummels and a hat-trick from Poland striker Robert Lewandowski canceled out Arjen Robben's penalty for Bayern and a strike from France's Franck Ribery.

"That was a cup final which no one from Dortmund could have better imagined," beamed Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp after his first cup win. We were ice cool in our finishing and scored great goals. It's hard to put into words what has happened to us."

Germany's No 1 goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, capped a poor night when he lost possession to allow Lewandowski to head his third goal nine minutes from time for the Polish striker's 30th goal of the season in all competitions.

"We were the better team over 90 minutes, but we made glaring errors and invited Dortmund to attack us time and time again," said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm. "Dortmund exploited their chances and we can't afford to make those mistakes next week."

Goalscorer Robben admitted the defeat hurt.

"When you lose 5-2, that hurts. I have no explanation for the game," he said. "Now it's frustrating, but on Monday, it's all about the Champions League final."

Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl said the German champion deserved the win.

"Bayern are a very, very strong team and we had to work hard," he said. "I think we've shown that we are genuine champions again, we were always there. After we went 2-1 up we had more security, but it was important to go 3-1 up at halftime. In the second half, we counter-attacked a lot and I think we deserved to win."

Agence France-Presse in Berlin

(China Daily 05/14/2012 page23)