Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal said on Sunday that he plans to be a “party animal” when the German giants officially win the Bundesliga title on Saturday — but will keep the champagne on ice until then.
Bayern effectively won the league title on Saturday after their 3-1 win over Bochum left them three points clear at the top of the table as title rivals Schalke 04 slumped to a 2-0 loss at home to Werder Bremen.
Schalke face Mainz on Saturday, while Bayern are at relegated Hertha Berlin, but with a superior goal difference of 17, Munich are all but guaranteed their 22nd German league crown when the season finishes next weekend.
PHOTO: EPA
Despite being soaked with champagne by Bayern captain Mark van Bommel in Bayern’s changing room after the Bochum win, van Gaal says he will only celebrate once Munich are officially crowned 2010 Bundesliga champions.
“We can only celebrate the championship title when it actually happens …We have won it in theory, but not yet in reality,” he said
Nothing short of a footballing miracle will prevent Bayern being crowned champions at Hertha’s Olympic Stadium, the first of three cups the club is chasing.
“I am a party animal,” van Gaal said when asked how he plans to celebrate winning the German league having given his players two days off training this week as a reward.
Bayern face Werder Bremen in the German Cup final on May 15 and Inter in the Champions League final a week later as they bid for the treble.
Having won the Bundesliga title in his first season in charge, van Gaal has now added the German league to the La Liga title he won with Barcelona having also won the Dutch league with AZ Alkmaar last season.
Meanwhile, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the club would remain conservative in its spending despite another successful season on and off the pitch and is not planning any major new signings.
“We are going to have the biggest turnover in the club’s history,” Rummenigge said in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper’s Sunday edition. “Our profit will grow comfortably as well and we’ll be profitable for the 16th straight season.”
Bayern had a turnover of 290 million euros (US$405 million) in its last financial year. Unlike many other big European clubs, the Bavarians have no huge debts.
“If we started making crazy transfers, like Real Madrid, we could climb in the rankings. But that is not our goal. We don’t want to overtake these clubs in terms of turnover. Our main goal remains to work profitably,” Rummenigge said.
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