Julian Nagelsmann is relishing a “match point” game with Borussia Dortmund after Bayern Munich moved on the brink of another Bundesliga title with a 3-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld.
Bayern bounced back from the disappointment of their Champions League exit at the hands of Villarreal in routine fashion, goals from Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala securing all three points against their relegation-threatened opponents.
It means Bayern have a nine-point lead over Dortmund with four games remaining and can clinch the title with victory over their arch-rivals at the Allianz Arena next Saturday.
“It was a deserved win and it’s important for us to have this match point game at home against Dortmund,” Nagelsmann said in quotes reported by Bayern’s official website.
“It’s a coincidence that doesn’t happen very often. We’re looking forward to that.”
Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich added: “The first half was pretty good, but in the second half we slowed down a bit.
“We kept allowing counter-attacks with long balls. It was a deserved win.
“We definitely want to win the title next week against Dortmund at home. This is a special game for us and for the whole Bundesliga. Because to get the championship trophy, that’s clearly the ultimate goal.”
Gnabry, who also created four chances, conceded there was an element of frustration from the aggregate defeat to Villarreal that was taken out on struggling Arminia.
“It was a bit of a reduction in frustration today after being eliminated from the Champions League, in which we had planned to progress,” he said.
“But in the end, football just keeps going. Today was a new game. We wanted to win and we did. We played well with the ball, created a lot of space, let our opponents run and lost the ball a few times.
“We had a lot of chances and maybe we could have scored earlier. But we can be satisfied.”