Pep Guardiola wants Bayern Munich to learn from their midweek UEFA Champions League defeat at Manchester City to help strengthen their iron grip on the Bundesliga at Hertha BSC today.
Bayern have a seven-point lead at the top of the table, but are licking their wounds after their first defeat in 22 games on Tuesday, although they had already made the round-of-16 as group winners.
“It’s good that it’s happened and maybe there’s a lesson in it for us,” Guardiola said.
Bayern have good memories of the Olympiastadion as their 3-1 win there in March saw them claim last season’s title with a record seven games to spare.
Meanwhile, there promises to be a battle royal in the pack chasing Bayern as second-placed VfL Wolfsburg host third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, with both sides looking to bounce back from respective league defeats last weekend to Schalke 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Moenchengladbach will be without suspended Swiss defensive midfielder Granit Xhaka, who was sent off against Frankfurt.
Yesterday, Dutch coach Huub Stevens was due to take charge of bottom side VfB Stuttgart at SC Freiburg having been named as Armin Veh’s successor on Tuesday.
It is his second stint at the club having kept them up last season as caretaker coach.
Schalke, who are seventh, have to pick up the pieces of their 5-0 midweek thrashing at home to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League when they host FSV Mainz 05 after Roberto di Matteo suffered his first home defeat in his eighth game in charge.
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund are at Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow looking to escape the bottom three having lost seven of their 12 league games. They will be looking for a much-needed confidence booster after their Champions League defeat at Arsenal.
Werder Bremen need a win at home to SC Paderborn 07 as they look to climb up from second-from-bottom place.
North German neighbors Hamburg SV are at sixth-placed Augsburg, while fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen host neighbors Cologne in the Rhine derby having reached the Champions League round-of-16, despite losing 1-0 to AS Monaco on Wednesday.
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