5-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt, 1-0 against closest title-challengers Borussia Dortmund and finally 5-0 against Fortuna Düsseldorf all add up to what was a perfect week of football for Bayern. And one thing is again evident: right now, Hansi Flick's team are in no mood to let up. "You can tell we're hungry," was how Joshua Kimmich recently described the record champions' performances. David Alaba also agreed: "You can see how ambitious we are, how hungry we are to finish on top again."
As strong in the tackle as ever - Joshua Kimmich tussles with Düsseldorf's Alfredo Morales
Praise from the coach
Before those words were spoken, however, the Reds had let their deeds do the talking on Saturday evening. Given Bayern's dominance right from the off in the 5-0 win, the visitors from Düsseldorf could not have hoped to take any kind of result away from the Allianz Arena. "We never left any room for doubt that we wanted to win this game," praised head coach Flick, and he was particularly impressed by the way his team were able to maintain a high level of concentration against the supposed underdogs from the Rhineland four days after winning the week's standout fixture at BVB.
"It's always difficult to be back at 100 percent in the game after a highlight like Tuesday in Dortmund," explained the 55-year-old. That's why "I'm very satisfied and proud that they were so focused on the pitch again," Flick continued. Kimmich explained the driving force behind this: "We wanted to underline the Dortmund triumph. We knew that if we didn't follow up with a win, the three points from Tuesday wouldn't have been so valuable.”
The team of the hour in the top tier
The reigning champions are the only team in the Bundesliga to have won all four matches after the restart, putting them ten points ahead of second-placed BVB ahead of Sunday's games. "We've taken a step in the right direction, but it's far from over," said Flick. After all, he said, the goal is "to finish the Bundesliga in the position we're in right now." For this reason, in a speech given while still in the centre circle on the pitch, the boss gave the team two days off with immediate effect to recharge their batteries for the final phase of the Bundesliga run-in.
On Tuesday, preparation for the crucial phase of the season will start. "We now have difficult games ahead of us with Leverkusen, the DFB Cup and Gladbach," Kimmich acknowledged. "Of course we want to keep up the ante and clinch the championship as early as possible. We don't want to make it exciting - let's just get the job done."
Bayern are in impressive shape at the moment, especially in attack:
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