Berlin: Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac and his Borussia Dortmund counterpart Lucien Favre both face a trip down memory lane on Saturday as the Bundesliga braces itself for the most nail-biting season finale in years.
Both Kovac and Favre will face their former clubs on a much-anticipated final day, as the title race goes down to the last weekend of the season for the first time since 2010.
Bayern currently sit two points ahead of Dortmund, and can claim a seventh straight league crown if they avoid defeat at home by Kovac’s old club Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday.
Dortmund, meanwhile, travel to Favre’s old hunting ground at Borussia Moenchengladbach, knowing that they can only be crowned champions if they win and Bayern lose.
“We need to focus on our game,” said Favre Thursday, adding that Dortmund needed to be prepared for all eventualities against Gladbach, whom he coached between 2011 and 2015.
“They play well on the counter-attack, but they can also press high up the pitch, and they need to win too,” he said.
There is more than the title at stake Saturday, with both Gladbach and Frankfurt still in the running for Champions League qualification.
Bayern have not won the title in front of their own fans since 2000, and are preparing to bid farewell to club icons Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.
With Saturday’s title decider and next weekend’s German Cup final against RB Leipzig, Kovac has two chances to win silverware in the next week, and is determined to take both of them.
AFP