Louis van Gaal has hinted he may leave Bayern Munich to become
Germany coach this summer, should his side's current success
continue.
The record German champions moved to the top of the
Bundesliga table for the first time since May 2008 last weekend and
they are now homing in on a 22nd domestic crown after a run of 15
games unbeaten.
That streak includes 14 wins and just one draw which has left
them also on the verge of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Should Bayern be successful on both fronts, then Van Gaal
says he may call it a day.
"The challenge is to become German champions and to win the
Champions League in the long term," he told DSF television. "If we
were to do both of those in my first year, then how could I improve
on that?
"That would mean we are the best. I may as well give up then
because I cannot improve anything."
On the same programme, Van Gaal revealed his ambition to lead
Germany, and with current coach Joachim Low's contract expiring
this summer, there may not be a better time for him to fulfil that
ambition.
"I would love to be the national team coach," he said.
But first, the 58-year-old is focusing on beating Cologne
this weekend to keep Bayern on course for the Bundesliga title
while a draw would be good enough against Fiorentina next week to
take them into the last eight of the Champions League.
But they remain under pressure from Bayer Leverkusen and
Schalke on the domestic front.
Leverkusen will be eager to return to the top of the table
when they travel to Nurnberg on Sunday, but Schalke are now closer
than ever to the top two and can move above Leverkusen by defeating
Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
"Schalke have always managed to find the strength to stay up
at the top and Schalke are our toughest rivals," admitted Van Gaal.
It now looks like a three-horse race for the title, although
fourth-placed Hamburg have not yet given up on their hopes of
joining the battle, despite lagging eight points behind Schalke.
They face bottom-placed Hertha Berlin on Saturday with their
coach Bruno Labbadia reminding his players to reach for the top.
"I think that my team has the potential to start a streak,"
he said. "We have got to keep Champions League qualification as an
objective."
Behind them, several clubs are jostling for a place in Europe
next season, and that now includes Werder Bremen after their win
over Mainz last weekend took them to within a point of fifth-placed
Borussia Dortmund.
Bremen host Stuttgart on Saturday while Dortmund are at home
to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday evening, when they will
already know Bremen's result.
Elsewhere, strugglers Freiburg and Hannover meet in a
decisive relegation battle while defending champions Wolfsburg go
in search of a third straight win at home to Bochum.
Finally, Hoffenheim entertain Mainz in Sunday's other fixture
