Bayern sit back as third straight title beckons

(From left) Bayern Munich's Thiago, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boating, El Mouttaqi Benatia, Xavi Alonso, Sebastian Rode, Juan Velasco Bernat, Dante and Robert Lewandowski celebrate their 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in their Bundesliga clash in Dortmund on Saturday. (Reuters)

DPA/BerlinBayern Munich’s 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund has put the German champions a step closer to a third successive league title and is a setback to Dortmund’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next season. An unusually defensive Bayern ground out the victory in Dortmund to remain 10 points ahead of Wolfsburg, and coach Pep Guardiola had the sums worked out correctly after celebrating his 50th Bundesliga win in 61 matches as Bayern coach. “We’ve taken an important step today and now need four more wins from our last seven matches to finish as champions,” he said. Juergen Klopp’s Dortmund side are at least five points off a Europa League berth, a gap which could grow after Sunday’s match between Augsburg and Schalke. Dortmund lacked a cutting edge against a well-organised  Bayern who seemed happy to sit back, with Philipp Lahm back following injury, playing in a five-man midfield. Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski returned to Dortmund to haunt his former club by heading the winning first-half goal. “The first 10 minutes were perfectly OK. We disturbed them quite high up the pitch,” Klopp said. “Then Bayern got through the first time and that made us look up to them a bit. After that we weren’t consequent enough in the way we ran at them. After that it was not so good anymore, we did not have enough chances on goal.” Guardiola, who was missing several leading players through injury, said: “I’d much rather use a different game plan than we had today, but obviously I can only play with the team I have at my disposal.” Dortmund’s potential failure to qualify for Europe could influence a decision by central defender Mats Hummels to leave the club amid reported links with Manchester United. Hummels, who has a contract until 2017, denied reports he had made any promises to United and said after the match there was “no tendency yet” and he would make “a gut decision” in the next few weeks. “I made a gut decision at the end of 2007 between Dortmund and Hoffenheim (on leaving Bayern) and decided on Borussia, that’s what I’ll do now,” he told Sky television. Guardiola devoted the win to Brazilian defender Dante, saying “I would like to have 1,000 Dantes in my team,” and was also boosted by the return following injury of midfielder Thiago Alcantara. Thiago came off the bench during the second half for his first appearance for just over a year. Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger meanwhile limped off with an ankle knock but is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s German Cup quarter-final at Bayer Leverkusen. Wolfsburg’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart, with Andre Schuerrle scoring his first goal for the club since moving from Chelsea early February, keeps Dieter Hecking’s side seven points clear of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who won 4-1 at Hoffenheim. “It was an important victory, considering the fact that Moenchengladbach and Leverkusen also won,” Hecking said. “I’m really happy for Andre Schuerrle that he got his goal and could shake that chip off his shoulder. He really deserved that goal for the massive effort he has made.” Stuttgart remain rooted to the bottom, while SV Hamburg’s sport director Peter Knaebel, in his first match as interim coach, was unable to stop the rot in a 4-0 thrashing at Champions League hopefuls Leverkusen. Hamburg were on the back foot from the start after conceding a goal after seven minutes, and Knaebel admitted players have lost confidence. “We now have to try to restore self-confidence to the players in training and we will continue on our path,” Knaebel said. Hamburg are now seven league games without a win and four in a row without scoring. Another difficult task awaits when Wolfsburg are the visitors.