Schalke 04 coach Felix Magath all but conceded the German title race on Sunday, claiming his team were “too soft” to win the Bundesliga.
Magath was speaking 24 hours after watching his team’s tame capitulation in a 4-2 loss to relegation-threatened Hannover 96, a defeat that left them two points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich, who drew 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen.
“We’re not too bad to be crowned champions, we’re simply too soft,” Magath told Sport1 television. “We haven’t shown the required winning mentality. We lost confidence in ourselves after the defeat to Bayern [the previous weekend].”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Appointed last June, Magath denied that his comments were designed as a disingenuous ploy to lull Bayern into believing their nearest rivals had given up the chase.
He had employed similar tactics last campaign, before guiding his former club VfL Wolfsburg to the title.
With a smile the former Bayern coach continued: “We don’t want to spoil Bayern’s party. With Schalke 04 we’ve enjoyed a superb season and we can finish it in style.”
In Sunday’s action, Ruud van Nistelrooy grabbed the late winner in Hamburg SV’s come-from-behind 2-1 win at VfL Bochum.
Slovenian striker Zlatko Dedic fired the hosts into a two minute lead, with Robert Tesche leveling before the break. Former Manchester United and Real Madrid attacker van Nistelrooy saved the day for the hosts of the Europa League final two minutes from time.
Hamburg are sitting sixth, on 48 points, 12 off the top, with Bochum hovering one point off the relegation zone in fourth from bottom.
In Sunday’s other game, VfL Wolfsburg picked themselves up after being knocked out of the Europa League by Fulham with a 2-0 win at Nuremberg, the goals coming in the second half from Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko and Brazilian Grafite.
The win pushed them up a place to eighth in the table, two points below Hamburg, while Nuremburg are level with Bochum on 28 points, but boast a superior goal difference.
German Bundesliga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Bayern Munich | 30 | 30 | 60 |
2 | Schalke 04 | 30 | 21 | 58 |
3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 30 | 22 | 54 |
4 | Borussia Dortmund | 30 | 13 | 52 |
5 | Werder Bremen | 30 | 26 | 51 |
6 | Hamburg SV | 30 | 16 | 48 |
7 | VfB Stuttgart | 30 | 7 | 47 |
8 | VfL Wolfsburg | 30 | 7 | 46 |
9 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 30 | -4 | 44 |
10 | FSV Mainz 05 | 30 | -7 | 41 |
11 | Borussia M’gladbach | 30 | -10 | 37 |
12 | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 30 | -3 | 34 |
13 | Cologne | 30 | -9 | 34 |
14 | Nuremberg | 30 | -21 | 28 |
15 | VfL Bochum | 30 | -22 | 28 |
16 | Hannover 96 | 30 | -22 | 27 |
17 | SC Freiburg | 30 | -28 | 25 |
18 | Hertha Berlin | 30 | -19 | 22 |
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