Opinion: Bayern Munich's 10th title - joy or relief?

It's that time of year again.

Bayern Munich's 10th consecutive league title came inevitably at home against the one team supposed to challenge them. The 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund was befitting of a club so much bigger, richer and further along than any other in Germany.

Even for Bayern though, 10 in a row marks a historic moment. They are the first club in Europe's top five leagues to do so, both a stunning achievement and a damning indictment of the Bundesliga.

Talk of a competitive gap at the top will return, calls for the 50+1 rule to be scrapped will resurface, and alternatives such as playoffs and new distributions of broadcast revenue will be reconsidered. Just as Bayern winning the title is par for the course in German football of late, so is the existential discourse that accompanies it.

But beyond those big questions, and the fact that there is so much more to the Bundesliga than just these two teams, is a more basic concern: is anyone actually having fun anymore?

Just three days before the match, Julian Nagelsmann admitted the Bundesliga was "a tad less important in Munich than the Champions League" and that he "hoped" his players would be looking forward to the chance to win the title.

Afterwards, having enjoyed, endured and been fortunate, Bayern's players and Nagelsmann were clearly happy. Beer was drunk and thrown all over, there were a lot of smiles and everyone wore t-shirts with the number 10 on them.

And yet, there were also signs of relief. Leroy Sané looked bored, Dayot Upamecano pensive, and even Nagelsmann when asked by Sky whether he could enjoy the next few days replied, following a lengthy analysis, with a clear implication: "I should."

Perhaps it's not as bad as it looks, but perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of football, a place where titles are only reserved for an elite so separated from the rest and so accustomed to success that it's real value has been forgotten amid the chase for more.

Bayern Munich used to insist that winning the league title was the most important, but that tone has change in recent years. Perhaps that's what comes with no longer having Karl-Heinz Rummenigge or Uli Hoeness involved, two former players who played in an era when winning the Bundesliga wasn't a given.

Perhaps it's also just what happens when being good for so long makes you forget what it is to truly be challenged.

But Bayern Munich desperately need just that. If we have reached the point where, for Bayern, both the winning and enjoyment of a league title has become little more than meeting expectations, then more is broken than we think

Edited by Matt Ford.