Bayern Munich don’t want to be sunk in Hamburg in the Bundesliga restart tonight, their first official game since the announcement that coach Pep Guardiola will jump ship after the season.
Bayern take an eight-point lead over Borussia Dortmund into the second half of the season, and won the first date with Hamburg 5-0, but they have no reason to take anything for granted.
Twelve months ago they crashed 4-1 at Wolfsburg in the league restart and last weekend’s 2-1 defeat against second-tier Karlsruhe sent a warning that they must raise their game on Friday in the northern German port in expected sub-zero temperatures.
“Eight points aren’t a lot. One defeat and it’s only five points, then maybe you can allow yourself two more mistakes,” striker Robert Lewandowski warned.
“So we have to play well from the opener until the end of the campaign and always be awake.”
Bayern are seeking a record fourth straight league title and are also in the hunt for a title treble having reached the quarter-finals of the German Cup and the Champions League last 16.
The club announced on December 20 that Guardiola will be leaving - likely for England - when his three-year contract expires on June 30, and many recall that Bayern won the treble in 2013 under similar circumstances when it was known that Jupp Heynckes would be replaced by the Catalan.
Mario Goetze and Franck Ribery are among those not yet fully fit to return from layoffs while Hamburg sweat on the fitness of striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga and captain Johan Djourou.
Hamburg only narrowly avoided their first ever relegation in the past two seasons but appear a little more stable this time around with a current 10th ranking.
“We must be well organised, be in good shape and have the right amount of aggression while being prepared to work hard against the ball. In a nutshell, we need to have a very good day,” coach Bruno Labbadia said.
Hamburg are winless against Munich in 13 league games since September 2009, losing 10 of them and outscored 53-6 in the process - with defeats including one 9-2, an 8-0, a 6-0 and three 5-0 scorelines.
Munich will go 11 points clear at the top with another victory and it could stay that way as Dortmund face a difficult Saturday trip to fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach where they have only won twice in the past 12 years.
Dortmund won the first date in August 4-0 as Gladbach went on to lose the first five, but they have since rebounded in remarkable fashion from last to fourth.
“We don’t have to hide, we can beat Dortmund. We have beaten Bayern, Schalke and Wolfsburg at Borussia Park (this season),” midfielder Lars Stindl told Kicker sports magazine.
Also on Saturday, second-last Hanover start their recovery mission with new coach Thomas Schaaf and half a dozen new players, including forwards Adam Szalai and Hugo Almeida, at home against Darmstadt.