Bayern three wins away from title as Arsenal loom
Bayern Munich are now just three wins away from their 23rd German
league title after fighting back for a 3-2 win over Fortuna Duesseldorf
on Saturday to leave them 20 points clear in the Bundesliga.
With nine matches left this season, Bayern are set to claim the
record for the earliest confirmed Bundesliga title victory and lift
their first silverware since May 2010. If they win their next three
games, the Bavarian giants will be confirmed league winners at Eintracht
Frankfurt on April 6.
It would be a title based on a remarkably solid defence as even after
leaking two goals against Frankfurt, they have conceded just ten in the
league all season. Victory over Fortuna took Bayern's winning run to 11
matches as Germany defender Jerome Boateng's 86th-minute header gave
them three more points after Thomas Mueller and then France wing Franck
Ribery had earlier equalised.
Bayern are bidding to become the first German team to win the treble
and face Arsenal in the second round of the Champions League on
Wednesday with a 3-1 lead from the first leg in London three weeks ago.
"You get days like these, but what matters is that we won. It's good for
our mental state prior to playing Arsenal," said goal-scorer Ribery.
Ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will take charge of Bayern on July 1
and current trainer Jupp Heynckes is determined to bow out after three
years in charge with a title, but is refusing to accept congratulations
just yet.
"As the game showed, you've never won a match before kick-off," said
Heynckes, who side distanced second-placed Borussia Dortmund even
further after the latter's 2-1 defeat at Schalke.
"Until it's a mathematical certainty, we're not accepting
congratulations.
"We were too passive in the first half-hour, we didn't cover enough
ground, there wasn't enough bite.
"But we turned it around thanks to our class, although it was tight.
"All credit to Fortuna, they made life hard for us, but we also saw
that we have fantastic morale." With stars Javi Martinez and Dante
rested, match-winner Boateng said the team had shown their character.
"It wasn't our best performance, but it's a mark of our quality that we
can turn a game like that around," said the Germany defender. "We showed
morale as a team and fought back twice.
AFP |