As his players celebrated the 3-0 win over Lyon and a place in the
Champions League final, Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal had one
piece of advice for them.
"Think of Bochum," Van Gaal said in the locker room.
Bochum is Bayern's opponent on Saturday in the Bundesliga,
and the architect of the German team's amazing progress through the
season did not want his players to relax too much.
Although Bayern is four games away from completing a treble,
the team could still end up empty-handed. But a win Saturday at its
own stadium would all but secure the Bundesliga title - if Schalke
fails to win at home against Werder Bremen.
Bayern is even with Schalke with two matches to go but has a
much better goal difference (13) than Felix Magath's team.
Magath, however, thinks his team still has a good chance of
stealing the title and winning its first championship in 52 years.
"I am sure that Bayern will not win both of their last two
last games," Magath said. "Because of the Champions League burden,
one of the games will be a draw."
Magath, who could win his second straight title after
capturing the championship with Wolfsburg last season, has been
making such predictions for a couple of weeks.
He was proved right last weekend, when his team won 1-0 at
last-place Hertha Berlin, while Bayern only managed a 1-1 draw at
Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"We have the more difficult games coming up but Bayern has
not been so strong against weaker teams," Magath said. "I think
they will stumble."
Schalke's last game is in Mainz, while Bayern travels to
Berlin, which is all but relegated.
On paper, Bayern should have an easier time Saturday. Bochum
is 16th, a position that in the end of the season means a
relegation-promotion playoff against the third-placed team from the
second division.
Werder Bremen, Schalke's next opponent, is eager to protect
its third-place position, which brings a spot in qualifying for the
Champions League.
"I think Bayern will be the champion because we will beat
Schalke," Werder captain Torsten Frings said.
Werder has won six of its last seven, including the last
three.
Schalke midfielder Ivan Rakitic congratulated Bayern for a
"super game" in Lyon but thought his team was far from written off.
"It's not over in the Bundesliga. Bochum is fighting for its
life and in that situation everything is possible," Rakitic said.
"We feel very well, everything is going well and by reaching the
Champions League we've already achieved a very big goal."
Speaking of Croatia teammate Ivica Olic, who scored all three
goals for Bayern in Lyon, Rakitic said: "We'll be meeting soon in
the national team and hopefully I can congratulate him on winning
the Champions League and he can congratulate me on the (Bundesliga)
title."
Also, Bayer Leverkusen plays Hertha Berlin, which can hope
for salvation only if it wins. Fourth-place Leverkusen needs points
to keep up pressure on Werder, which is ahead on goal difference.
Borussia Dortmund, one point behind the two, hosts Wolfsburg.
Stuttgart, sixth and three points behind Dortmund, hosts Mainz.
In other matches Saturday, it's: Eintracht Frankfurt vs.
Hoffenheim; Hannover vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach; Cologne vs.
Freiburg; and Hamburger SV vs. Nuremberg.
