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Djokovic back; Nadal strong in Madrid
5/10/2014 12:26:41 PM
- Novak Djokovic to return to ATP tour in Rome after injury
- Rafael Nadal on course to defend Madrid Open title
- Nadal plays Kei Nishikori or David Ferrer in Sunday's final
- Maria Sharapova to play Simona Halep in women's final in Madrid
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(CNN) -- Injury doubt Novak Djokovic has confirmed his participation, new dad Roger Federer is a maybe, but they will go into the Rome Masters next week in the knowledge their old nemesis Rafael Nadal is finding his feet on clay again after some shock recent defeats.
Nadal booked his participation in his 90th ATP Tour final with a 6-4 6-3 win over fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut at the Madrid Open Saturday -- always in command in the one hour 43 minute clash.
Nadal, who is the defending champion at the Masters 1000 event, lost in the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo and Barcelona to David Ferrrer and Nicolas Almagro to show rare vulnerability on his favorite surface.
Read: Title holder Nadal slips to Monte Carlo defeat
But bidding for his 27th crown in Masters events, the world number one has looked more comfortable and either Ferrer or Kei Nishikori of Japan await Sunday's final in the Spanish capital.
Second-ranked Djokovic was due to play in Madrid, but pulled out at the last minute due to the right wrist injury which first hit him in Monte Carlo.
The Serbian has been training hard ahead of an early return with the French Open looming and took to social media Saturday to indicate he would be back in the Foro Italico next week.
Read: Djokovic pulls out of Madrid with wrist problem
"Rome her I come!" tweeted Djokovic, who will be in the same side of the draw as Federer, whose wife Mirka gave birth to a second set of twins, sons Leo and Lenny earlier this week.
Federer, who has been showing improved form all year, will definitely play at the second grand slam of the season in Paris later this month, but his participation in Rome is still uncertain.
"Roger plans on playing Roland Garros and he will make a decision at the last minute if he will play Rome depending on how everything is going with his family," his agent Roger Godsick told the official ATP Tour website.
Read: 'It's twins again !
Meanwhile in the women's WTA tournament in Madrid, Maria Sharapova will play Simona Halep of Romania in Sunday's final.
Sharapova, fresh off her Stuttgart success, brushed aside Agnieszka Radwanska to advance to the tile match in Madrid for a second straight year.
The Russian built on a fast start and despite a second set rally from Radwanska was a 6-1 6-4 winner.
"It's great to have these results, over No.3 in the world today and yesterday beating Li Na, who is No.2 in the world. These were my goals at the beginning of the season, physically and mentally after a long layoff," she said.
Read: Sharapova wins Stuttgart title
By contrast, the other semifinal was a close and grueling affair, with Halep eventually prevailing 6-7 6-3 6-2 in two hours 36 minutes against former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
Halep, bidding for her eighth title since last year's Madrid tournament, trailed a set and 3-1 before winning eight straight games to take a stranglehold on the match.
Halep is already looking forward to the final. "Of course, tomorrow will be a very tough match. Maria is a great champion. And she's playing really well here. I will just try to be happy and enjoy being in the final," she told the WTA Tour website.
Read: Thigh injury forces Serena out
Ukraine vote: Balaclavas, sandbags, barbed wire
5/10/2014 7:49:50 PM
- NEW: A state-controlled Russian TV channel in one town tells where, when to vote
- Pro-Russian activists say referendum planned for Sunday will go ahead
- Self-declared mayor of Slavyansk says he expects a 100% turnout in the referendum
- Kiev and West have condemned vote as illegitimate; Russia's President urged delay
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine insisted Saturday that a controversial referendum on greater autonomy will go ahead -- despite calls from Kiev and Moscow not to hold the vote amid soaring tensions.
The referendum is due to take place on Sunday in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, where armed groups have been involved in deadly clashes with Ukrainian security forces in recent days.
At least seven people were killed and 39 others were injured in violence Friday in the flashpoint southeastern city of Mariupol, the Donetsk regional health department said. Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the casualty toll is higher.
The mood in the city of Donetsk was tense on the eve of the vote, as its residents wait to see what happens.
The head of the referendum committee for the self-declared "People's Republic of Donetsk," Boris Litvinov, insisted that the vote on greater local powers would go ahead and that preparations are well under way.
Litvinov told CNN that they are "90% ready" and that he expects a 70% turnout.
Voters will be asked the question, "Do you support the Act of Independence of People's Republic of Donetsk?" The options are "yes" or "no." A similar question will be put to voters in Luhansk.
Meanwhile, in a small town near Slavyansk in the northern Donetsk region, a Russian government-controlled TV channel was periodically showing a banner along the bottom of the screen that told viewers where they can vote in Sunday's referendum.
That channel, Russia 24, is available over the air to residents of Donetsk, who can access it in their homes.
The banner lists the location and voting hours and advises voters to bring a passport. The banner is only shown on the Russia 24 channel and not on other channels.
The explicit advertising of voting places and times on a Russian state-controlled channel comes as President Vladimir Putin advised pro Russian activists here to delay their vote.
Ukraine government's concern
Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told a Ukrainian TV show on Saturday that a move to federalization would be "self-destructive" for eastern Ukraine, according to his official web page.
"It is a step nowhere for these regions. It is euphoria that may lead to very complex consequences and many people can already feel them. Those who call for independence do not realize that it is full destruction of economy, social programs and life in general for the most people in this area."
Turchynov said he was concerned by some separatists' attempts to turn Donetsk and Luhansk "into area of constant military actions, economic ruin and no prospects" and urged those not responsible for serious crimes to turn in their weapons in return for amnesty.
Ballot boxes
The electoral commission office in Donetsk was ringed with sandbags and barbed wire as of Saturday morning.
Men in balaclavas lounged outside tents pitched nearby, looking relaxed. They wore the orange-and-black St. George ribbon, which has become a symbol of the pro-Russian separatists.
Some activists could be seen loading ballot boxes into a van for distribution to polling stations. But it's not yet clear where they will be or how easy it will be for people to cast a ballot if they choose to.
According to the social media pages of the Donetsk Central Election Committee, any resident aged 18 or older who can present a passport with a Donetsk region registration stamp is entitled to vote there.
The polls will stay open for 14 hours, rather than the usual 12, to allow time to add people to the voter list if necessary, the committee said, adding that access to the most recent electoral rolls has been barred by Kiev.
The activists say ballots will be distributed across the two regions. However, it's not clear whether they have enough capacity to cover the whole area.
Also unclear is what may happen after the referendum, if it does, in fact, go ahead.
Vote's legitimacy in question
Results are expected to emerge late Sunday but whatever the outcome, the vote has already been condemned as illegitimate by the interim government in Kiev, as well as by several Western powers.
Speaking Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "We consider the referendum scheduled for tomorrow illegitimate and focus on the (presidential) election on May 25 in the entire Ukraine."
Earlier this week, Russian President Putin also urged the pro-Russian sympathizers to delay the referendum to give dialogue "the conditions it needs to have a chance."
However, representatives of the pro-Russian groups in Donetsk and Luhansk voted to go ahead with it, casting doubt on the West's contention that Moscow is covertly coordinating the separatist movement.
According to a poll released Thursday, a majority of Ukrainians agree their country should remain a unified state.
The Pew Research Center poll, conducted in the first half of April, found that 77% of Ukrainians want the country to remain united; 70% in the east feel the same. Things differ in Crimea, where 54% of those surveyed voice support for the right to secede.
On Friday, Putin made his first visit to Crimea since the Ukrainian territory was annexed by Russia in March in the wake of a controversial referendum in that region.
His appearance at Victory Day celebrations in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, hours after he took part in a massive military parade in Moscow, was greeted by cheering crowds amid strong pro-Russian sentiment.
In Washington, the White House took notice of Putin's visit and reiterated its rejection of Crimea's annexation.
"Such a visit will only serve to fuel tensions," National Security Council spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson said.
Barricades, polling booths
Back in Donetsk on Saturday, a dozen men lined up in front of the regional administration building to sign up for "military service" with the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic. They showed their ID documents and registered at a small tent.
Meanwhile, an armored personnel carrier sporting Russian flags drove through with men wearing balaclavas on top, cheered on by some of the security volunteers.
In Mariupol, the simmering tensions between pro-Russian groups and government forces flared into violence Friday after clashes at the city police department.
On the eve of Sunday's vote, the streets were stained with blood, and City Hall and police station smoldered in ruins.
The situation was tense outside the office belonging to the head of the referendum, protected by sandbags, barbed wire and men in balaclavas.
There also have been deadly clashes in Odessa and Slavyansk, another pro-Russian stronghold where separatists hold key government buildings.
Ukrainian military forces remained in an uneasy standoff with militants in Slavyansk, who have erected concrete barricades on the roads into town.
Ahead of the planned referendum, officials in the town hastily erected polling booths in some places and prepared voter lists. Billboards were so bare of any announcements that Slavyansk hardly seemed a city on the verge of a historic vote.
The self-declared mayor of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, told a news conference he expected a turnout of "100%," give or take those few people who were unable to get to polling stations.
However, despite the rhetoric, Putin's unexpected call to delay the referendum appears to have dented the confidence of some pro-Russian activists.
France, Germany ready to take further sanctions
The interim government in Kiev, which took power after ousted pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, is due to hold presidential elections May 25.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, speaking together in Germany, warned that Russia could face consequences if the presidential vote does not go ahead as planned.
"If no internationally recognized presidential election were to take place, this would inevitably further destabilize the country," Merkel said.
In that case, she said, "we are ready to take further sanctions against Russia."
In a joint statement, Merkel and Hollande called for national dialogue and proposals for constitutional reform ahead of the May 25 elections and said the vote should be held under the observation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
They set out a series of steps needed to restore stability to Ukraine and said these must be a priority in the coming days.
"We deeply regret the recent violent events in, among other places, Odessa and Mariupol, which led to unacceptable losses of human lives," they said in the joint statement.
"The illegal ownership of weapons must immediately come to an end. Weapons should be collected under observation of the OSCE starting on May 15.
"This will make it possible for Ukrainian security forces to refrain from using force in their operations. During this time, the legal use of force to protect people and infrastructures must remain judicious."
Merkel and Hollande also said that Russian troops along the Ukrainian border "should undertake visible steps to reduce their readiness."
Putin announced a troop pullback Wednesday but NATO says it has seen no signs of a withdrawal of Russian forces from the border area.
Amid the war of words, Russian state media reported Saturday that Ukraine had prevented a plane carrying Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin from entering its airspace after leaving Moldova.
"This is a flagrant violation of international law," official news agency RIA Novosti quotes Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, who was also on the flight, as saying. Rogozin later tweeted that he was back in Moscow.
CNN's Atika Shubert reported from Donetsk and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Kellie Morgan, Lindsay Isaac, Ben Brumfield and Michael Martinez, as well as journalists Victoria Butenko and Lena Kashkarova, contributed to this report.
Ukraine vote: Balaclavas, sandbags, barbed wire
5/10/2014 7:08:10 AM
- Pro-Russian activists say referendum planned for Sunday will go ahead
- Election coordinator says the activists are 90% ready and he expects a 70% turnout
- Much uncertainty remains about whether the vote will take place in Donetsk and Luhansk
- Kiev and West have condemned vote as illegitimate; Russia's President urged delay
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine insisted Saturday that a controversial referendum on greater autonomy will go ahead -- despite calls from Kiev and Moscow not to hold the vote amid soaring tensions.
The referendum is due to take place on Sunday in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, where armed groups have been involved in deadly clashes with Ukrainian security forces in recent days.
At least seven people were killed and 39 others were injured in violence Friday in the flashpoint southeastern city of Mariupol, the Donetsk regional health department said. Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the casualty toll is higher.
The mood in the city of Donetsk was tense on the eve of the vote, as its residents wait to see what happens.
The head of the referendum committee, Boris Litvinov, insisted that the vote on greater local powers would go ahead and that preparations are well under way.
He told CNN that they are "90% ready" and that he expects a 70% turnout.
Voters will be asked the question, "Do you support the Act of Independence of People's Republic of Donetsk?" The options are "yes" or "no." A similar question will be put to voters in Luhansk.
The electoral commission office in Donetsk was ringed with sandbags and barbed wire as of Saturday morning.
Men in balaclavas lounged outside tents pitched nearby, looking relaxed. They wore the orange-and-black St. George ribbon, which has become a symbol of the pro-Russian separatists.
Some activists could be seen loading ballot boxes into a van for distribution to polling stations. But it's not yet clear where they will be or how easy it will be for people to cast a ballot if they choose to.
According to the social media pages of the Donetsk Central Election Committee, any resident aged 18 or older who can present a passport with a Donetsk region registration stamp is entitled to vote there.
The polls will stay open for 14 hours, rather than the usual 12, to allow time to add people to the voter list if necessary, the committee said, adding that access to the most recent electoral rolls has been barred by Kiev.
The activists say ballots will be distributed across the two regions. However, it's not clear whether they have enough capacity to cover the whole area.
Also unclear is what may happen after the referendum, if it does, in fact, go ahead.
Vote's legitimacy in question
Results are expected to emerge late Sunday but whatever the outcome, the vote has already been condemned as illegitimate by the interim government in Kiev, as well as by several Western powers.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged the pro-Russian sympathizers to delay the referendum to give dialogue "the conditions it needs to have a chance."
However, representatives of the pro-Russian groups in Donetsk and Luhansk voted to go ahead with it, casting doubt on the West's contention that Moscow is covertly coordinating the separatist movement.
According to a poll released Thursday, a majority of Ukrainians agree their country should remain a unified state.
The Pew Research Center poll, conducted in the first half of April, found that 77% of Ukrainians want the country to remain united; 70% in the east feel the same. Things differ in Crimea, where 54% of those surveyed voice support for the right to secede.
Putin: We will overcome difficulties
On Friday, Putin made his first visit to Crimea since the Ukrainian territory was annexed by Russia in March in the wake of a controversial referendum in that region.
His appearance at Victory Day celebrations in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, hours after he took part in a massive military parade in Moscow, was greeted by cheering crowds amid strong pro-Russian sentiment.
In Washington, the White House took notice of Putin's visit and reiterated its rejection of Crimea's annexation.
"Such a visit will only serve to fuel tensions," National Security Council spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson said.
Back in Donetsk on Saturday, a dozen men lined up in front of the regional administration building to sign up for "military service" with the self-declared "Donetsk People's Republic." They showed their ID documents and registered at a small tent.
Meanwhile, an armored personnel carrier sporting Russian flags drove through with men wearing balaclavas on top, cheered on by some of the security volunteers. The vehicle was apparently taken by the pro-Russians from the outskirts of the city but it was not clear exactly how they obtained it.
In Mariupol, the simmering tensions between pro-Russian groups and government forces flared into violence Friday after clashes at the city police department.
There have also been deadly clashes in Odessa and the town of Slovyansk, another pro-Russian stronghold where separatists hold key government buildings.
France, Germany urge steps toward stability
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande set out a series of steps needed to restore stability to Ukraine and said these must be a priority in the coming days.
"We deeply regret the recent violent events in, among other places, Odessa and Mariupol, which led to unacceptable losses of human lives," they said in the joint statement.
"The illegal ownership of weapons must immediately come to an end. Weapons should be collected under observation of the (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) starting on May 15.
"This will make it possible for Ukrainian security forces to refrain from using force in their operations. During this time, the legal use of force to protect people and infrastructures must remain judicious."
Merkel and Hollande said any use of illegal force must quickly be investigated, including in Odessa, and prosecuted in the courts.
They also said that Russian troops along the Ukrainian border "should undertake visible steps to reduce their readiness."
Putin announced a troop pullback Wednesday but NATO says it has seen no signs of a withdrawal of Russian forces from the border area.
The interim government in Kiev, which took power after ousted pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, is due to hold presidential elections May 25.
Merkel and Hollande called for national dialogue and proposals for constitutional reform ahead of those elections and said the vote should be held under the observation of the OSCE.
"If no internationally recognized presidential election were to take place, this would inevitably further destabilize the country," they said.
CNN's Atika Shubert reported from Donetsk and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Kellie Morgan and Ben Brumfield, as well as journalists Victoria Butenko and Lena Kashkarova, contributed to this report.
F1: Hamilton on pole for fourth time
5/10/2014 9:05:04 AM
- Lewis Hamilton takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona
- Teammate Nico Rosberg is second on the grid
- Daniel Ricciardo in third for Red Bull
- Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel struggles
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(CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton reserved a barnstorming final lap in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix to take his fourth pole of the season Saturday.
With his 35th career pole, Hamilton relegated Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg to second on the grid as he bids for his fourth straight win of the season.
Victory in Sunday's race would see Hamilton leapfrog Rosberg in the world title standings and would be his first at the Circuit of Catalunya.
It proved another frustrating afternoon for four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel who was unable to take part in the final phase of qualifying after "losing drive" in his Red Bull.
Read: Hamilton hat-trick in Shanghai
It left him 10th on the grid, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo of Australia again impressed by claiming third spot.
Finn Valtteri Bottas took a fine fourth for the revived Williams team, with Romain Grosjean giving Lotus a boost in fifth.
Ferrari's home hero Fernando Alonso had hoped to give his vast following in Barcelona something to cheer, but had to settle for seventh on the grid, being out qualified by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Read: Mercedes one-two in Bahrain qualifying
Rosberg had raised hopes he could take pole ahead of Hamilton by being fastest in third practice and then in the opening two sessions of final qualifying.
But Hamilton showed his superiority despite doubts he would have to give second best, clocking a time of one minute 25.232 seconds.
"Nico (Rosberg) has been driving really well through P3 and qualifying, so I didn't know if I could get it. At the end, I had to eek out everything and more from the car," he said.
"To have the kind of performance we have, I have never really known that before. I'm overwhelmed, so happy."
Jenson Button for McLaren, Felipe Massa in the second Williams and a frustrated Vettel rounded out the top 10.
Read: Why can't women win in F1?
Time to televise executions?
5/10/2014 9:05:43 AM
- Richard Gabriel: Recent failed execution makes the case against death penalty
- The last public execution in the United States was in 1936, witnessed by 20,000 people
- Gabriel says he believes there is no humane way to kill another person
- We should be willing, he says, to live with the byproducts of our retribution
Editor's note: Richard Gabriel is a Los Angeles-based trial consultant and author of the upcoming book "Acquittal: An Insider Reveals the Stories and Strategies Behind Today's Most Infamous Verdicts." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- Last week in McAlester, Oklahoma, the blinds were raised in a small, white, antiseptic room, and two small groups of people watched as Clayton Lockett was strapped to a gurney.
A doctor examined Lockett's body for usable veins and then oversaw the administration of an untested drug cocktail that was supposed to dispatch the convicted murderer quickly and quietly. Instead, the blinds were lowered as the execution turned into more than 40 minutes of grimacing, writhing, teeth grinding and frantic phone calls. Then Lockett's heart finally seized, stopped beating, and his breath left his body.
This is how we kill our most serious criminals in the 21st century. Or at least try to. So if this is justice, let's make it real. Let's make it open to the highest form of public transparency and scrutiny: Live TV. Here's why.
In the Middle Ages, the preferred method of executing prisoners was to draw and quarter, burn, boil alive and separate body parts of the condemned, exacting a measure of slow and painful torture before death. At some point in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, society decided that executing prisoners more quickly would be more "humane."
The French invented the guillotine, the Shah of Persia introduced throat cutting, or would tie a prisoner to a cannon and blow him apart, and the British developed the "long drop" method of hanging to snap the neck and sever the spine of the executed.
In 1936, the last public execution in the United States was held in Owensboro, Kentucky. It was witnessed by more than 20,000 people, including hundreds of reporters. From that point forward, states decided that executions needed to be private affairs, held in small rooms and witnessed only by agents of the state, lawyers, family members of the victim and a handful of journalists.
In the years since Owensboro, the states -- with the approval of the U.S. Supreme Court -- have refined their definition of humane executions by utilizing firing squads, electric chairs and gas chambers. The states further sanitized the execution process by developing the lethal injection method, turning it into a medical procedure complete with operating table, intravenous injections and considerable ethical questions for doctors and pharmaceutical companies who have sworn to "do no harm."
None of these refinements in execution technology has anything to do with "humane" methods. There is no real measurement for how painful a death prisoners suffer when they are being hanged, shot, gassed or electrocuted, no matter how quickly they die. Lethal injection simply gives us greater psychological distance from killing another human being, making it feel more like a doctor-prescribed procedure than an execution.
Michael Wilson, another death row inmate in Oklahoma, was killed in January in the same chamber, uttering his final words, "I feel my whole body burning." And while many have used the word "botched" to describe Lockett's execution, it wasn't botched at all. That's just how messy, complicated and disturbing it is to kill another human being.
What is missing from the death penalty debate is that there is no humane way to kill another person. We consider taking a victim's life during a crime to be cruel and unusual, yet we neatly sidestep this same Eighth Amendment standard with prisoners by attempting to conduct a quick and "painless" execution.
President Barack Obama has called for a Department of Justice investigation into the death penalty following Lockett's execution. "In the application of the death penalty in this country, we have seen significant problems -- racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty, you know, situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence," Obama said. "And all these, I think, do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied."
But while I applaud the President's actions, the question is not how the death penalty is applied, but whether it should be applied at all.
It is natural to be both horrified and angered at the senseless and brutal killings committed by a convicted murderer. It is natural to want revenge -- to visit the pain we imagine the victim suffered onto his or her perpetrator. But there is a difference between punishment and revenge, no matter how we dress it up with legislation and legal procedures. We have built a system of laws to raise us above those we judge.
In this system we have built, we must be honest and ask ourselves, "Is vengeance justice?" If we want truly to codify revenge, let's not pretend. Let's admit that we are willing to live with the byproducts of our retribution. Let's admit that we are willing to kill a number of innocent people. Let's admit that it is fine to execute a disproportionate number of minorities. And let's admit that we want condemned murderers to suffer like they made their victims suffer. Let's not dress the execution up as a medical procedure.
And by all means, let's televise it. Let's watch them pump the drugs into a condemned man or woman, strapped to a gurney. Let's hear their last words. Let's watch them writhe and twitch, or listen as they groan and their last breath quietly leaves their body. Let's watch them die. Let us see what we are really choosing when we vote to implement the death penalty in our state.
Many Americans support the death penalty in principle. But, as a juror in a capital case, it is different when you look across that courtroom and stare into the eyes of the accused. At that point it is real, and not just a principle. You will decide whether that person dies.
Let's make the death penalty real. Let's open the blinds and stare into the eyes of those we condemn to death. Let's be honest about what the death penalty really is. And then we can choose what kind of society we really want to be.
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Pep beer shower as Bayern celebrate
5/10/2014 4:20:21 PM
- Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart in final game of Bundesliga season
- Claudio Pizarro scores last gasp goal for champions
- Pep Guardiola dowsed with beer in traditional celebration
- Bayern hope to complete domestic double next week
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(CNN) -- The atmosphere could have fallen a little flat after the Champions League setback against Real Madrid, but it did not stop a capacity 71,000 crowd at the Allianz Arena celebrating Bayern Munich's 24th Bundesliga title in traditional style Saturday.
A last-gasp winner from Claudio Pizarro ensured the final league game of the season would result in a 1-0 win over Stuttgart and the cue for the party to start.
Manager Pep Guardiola was dowsed with the best Bavarian beer as has become the custom, with defenders Jerome Boateng and Daniel van Buyten the main protagonists.
Read: Real crush Bayern to reach final
He scarcely seemed to mind as he lifted the shield, reward for an all-conquering season which saw the championship wrapped up by March and with 29 wins, three draws and only two defeats.
Some have blamed the early clinching of the title for some lackluster performances which followed, including the 5-0 semifinal aggregate reverse to Real which ended Bayern's hopes of defending the Champions League crown.
The last league game was also a low-key affair on the pitch until Peru's Pizarro scored from outside the penalty area in the 92nd minute.
Guardiola, whose future at Bayern has been the subject of some speculation, looked a relieved man after it went in, but he will be hoping his team can raise themselves for one final big performance next week.
Read: Guardiola reveals Bayern tensions
They face arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final in Berlin, hoping to complete the domestic double before many of their squad head to Brazil for the World Cup finals.
Bayern may have to do so without key midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who limped off in the first half with a knee injury. He will undergo an MRI scan Monday to determine the seriousness, worrying for his club side and Germany.
"Bastian has a problem with his kneecap," Guardiola told the official Bayern website. "But we still have six days to go until the cup final."
Guardiola also reflected on his team's achievements in his first season in charge. "The first championship is very special for a Catalan such as myself," he said.
Read: Bayern clinch title with seven games to spare
Separatists hold controversial vote in Ukraine
5/11/2014 3:08:44 AM
- Russian President Putin has called for separatists to delay the referendum
- A state-controlled Russian TV channel in one town tells where, when to vote
- Voters in Donetsk and Luhansk will cast ballots
- Kiev and West have condemned vote as illegitimate
Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Pro-Russian activists are calling residents in eastern Ukraine to the polls Sunday for a snap referendum on declaring independence from Kiev.
Voters in the city of Donetsk will see the question: "Do you support the Act of Independence of People's Republic of Donetsk?" The options are "yes" or "no." A similar question will be put to voters in Luhansk.
A vote for independence is a vote for the self-destruction of the east, Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has said.
It would cut residents off from the national economy and social programs, he said. "It is a step nowhere for these regions. It is euphoria that may lead to very complex consequences and many people can already feel them."
Blood and balaclavas
They have felt the pain in bloodshed, at graves and in burned out ruins still smoldering in the east, where ethnic Russian militiamen have battled Ukrainian security forces.
At least seven people were killed and 39 others were injured on Friday in the southeastern city of Mariupol, regional sources said.
In spite of the sudden nature of the referendum, the people of the self-declared "People's Republic of Donetsk" want to vote, its leader Boris Litvinov said. They are "90% ready," he said and expects a 70% turnout.
The electoral commission office in Donetsk was ringed with sandbags and barbed wire on Saturday.
Men in balaclavas lounged outside tents pitched nearby, looking relaxed. They wore the orange-and-black St. George ribbon, which has become a symbol of the pro-Russian separatists.
A dozen men lined up in front of the regional administration building to sign up for "military service" with the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic. They showed their ID documents and registered at a small tent.
Some activists could be seen loading ballot boxes into a van for distribution to polling stations.
The polls will stay open for 14 hours, rather than the usual 12, to allow time to add people to the voter list if necessary, the committee said, adding that access to the most recent electoral rolls has been barred by Kiev.
Deadly clashes have also stained Mariupol and Odessa with blood, as well as Slavyansk, where separatists hold key government buildings and remain in a standoff with Ukrainian military forces. Militants have erected concrete barricades on the roads into town there.
Russia's mixed messages
The message coming from Moscow on the referendum appears mixed.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged the pro-Russian sympathizers to delay the referendum to give dialogue "the conditions it needs to have a chance."
Putin's unexpected call to delay the referendum appears to have dented the confidence of some pro-Russian activists.
However, representatives of the pro-Russian groups in Donetsk and Luhansk voted to go ahead with it.
Meanwhile, in Slavyansk, a Russian government-controlled TV channel was periodically showing a banner along the bottom of the screen that told viewers where they can vote in Sunday's referendum.
That channel, Russia 24, is available over the air to residents of Donetsk, who can access it in their homes.
The banner lists the location and voting hours and advises voters to bring a passport. The banner is only shown on the Russia 24 channel and not on other channels.
'Illegitimate' vote
Results are expected to emerge late Sunday but whatever the outcome, the vote has already been condemned as illegitimate by the interim government in Kiev, as well as by several Western powers.
Speaking Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "We consider the referendum scheduled for tomorrow illegitimate and focus on the (presidential) election on May 25 in the entire Ukraine."
The interim government in Kiev, which took power after ousted pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, is due to hold presidential elections May 25.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, speaking together in Germany, warned that Russia could face consequences if the presidential vote does not go ahead as planned.
"If no internationally recognized presidential election were to take place, this would inevitably further destabilize the country," Merkel said.
In that case, she said, "we are ready to take further sanctions against Russia."
Merkel and Hollande also said that Russian troops along the Ukrainian border "should undertake visible steps to reduce their readiness."
Putin announced a troop pullback Wednesday but NATO says it has seen no signs of a withdrawal of Russian forces from the border area.
Russia annexed the southern region of Crimea after a separatist referendum there.
CNN's Atika Shubert reported from Donetsk and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Kellie Morgan and Lindsay Isaac, as well as journalists Victoria Butenko and Lena Kashkarova, contributed to this report.
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