Bielefeld (dpa) – At the end of a difficult football week, Julian Nagelsmann was in a good mood and felt anticipation.
“It’s important for us that we now have this match point game at home against Dortmund,” said the Bayern Munich coach. “It’s a good coincidence that doesn’t happen that often. We’re looking forward to it.”
Thanks to the 3-0 win against Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern can complete their tenth German championship in a row with a win in the Bundesliga summit meeting with BVB.
Neuer: “You have to look ahead”
Five days after the hard end in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against FC Villarreal, Thomas Müller also had positive thoughts in the catacombs of the Bielefeld stadium. “It was extremely important for us to get the match point,” said the original Bavarian. “It can be another emotional highlight.” Müller spoke of emotionally difficult past days.
National goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was also satisfied with the success on the Alm without much glamor. “I think we showed a good face today, a good reaction,” he said. How much the premier class knockout hits the German record champions was also clear on Sunday evening. “Of course we’re still disappointed, that’s clear,” said Neuer. “But what else do you want to do? You have to look ahead.”
The look ahead now offers Bayern the long-awaited German soccer hit. First against second – more is not possible. A championship celebration for Bayern after the game against their long-time rival next Saturday evening would make the fans particularly happy and probably hurt BVB, who were so strong this weekend in the 6-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg.
Bielefeld in the middle of a relegation battle
Meanwhile, Bavaria’s Easter opponent Bielefeld has completely different concerns. Arminia have only got one point from the past seven games and are penultimate in the table after the 30th matchday. The gap to the relegation place is two, to the 15th place three points.
After all, the performance against the football heavyweight from Munich, which was improved compared to the 0: 4 in Wolfsburg, gave a little encouragement. “One thing has to give us a boost,” said midfielder Manuel Prietl: “That we fought together.”
Bielefeld takes on 1. FC Köln on Saturday. Arminia then welcomes Hertha BSC in the relegation duel. “We have to play to win,” said attacking player Patrick Wimmer. “We have to keep fighting like that. We need points, nothing else counts anymore.”
It remains to be seen whether any of the many injured Bielefeld players will come back for the final sprint. After head injuries to club record scorer Fabian Klos and central defender Cédric Brunner, Fabian Kunze also suffered head and neck injuries on Sunday. Jacob Laursen was also injured in the first half against Bayern.