Van Gaal feels the heat as Bayern falls
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHAMPION Bayern Munich slumped to a 1-3 defeat at Hanover 96 in the German Bundesliga on Saturday to lose touch with the top spots and put coach Louis van Gaal's job on the line.
Bayern was desperate to beat Hanover to stay in the hunt for the second place that grants an automatic Champions League spot but the third defeat in as many games left it seven points off second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, which easily disposed of VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 at home to climb to 49 points.
Bayern club bosses had warned their Dutch coach that second place was their minimum target but it was Hanover which was livelier, scoring through Mohammed Abdellaoue and Konstantin Rausch before Sergio Pinto added another after Arjen Robben had briefly pulled one back.
Bayern, with only the Champions League trophy left to fight for, was reduced to 10 men in the 73rd minute when defender Breno kicked Lars Stindl and was sent off.
"My players were under a lot pressure going into this game," van Gaal, in his second season at Bayern, told reporters. "After the first goal it got even bigger."
As for his future at the club, the 59-year-old former Barcelona and Netherlands coach said: "That is up to those in charge. I continue with my work but obviously after the third straight loss it becomes tricky."
Bayern's third straight defeat in all competitions, after its German Cup exit to Schalke 04 in midweek, left it in fourth place on 42 points, with Hanover third on 47. Runaway leader Borussia Dortmund is 12 points clear on 61 after its 1-0 win over Cologne on Friday.
Last-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach cut the gap to the relegation playoff spot to three points by beating Hoffenheim 2-0 while VfB Stuttgart for the first time in months dragged itself off the bottom places with a 1-0 win over Schalke.
Nuremberg's Christian Eigler scored four times as his team crushed St Pauli 5-0.
Bayern was desperate to beat Hanover to stay in the hunt for the second place that grants an automatic Champions League spot but the third defeat in as many games left it seven points off second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, which easily disposed of VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 at home to climb to 49 points.
Bayern club bosses had warned their Dutch coach that second place was their minimum target but it was Hanover which was livelier, scoring through Mohammed Abdellaoue and Konstantin Rausch before Sergio Pinto added another after Arjen Robben had briefly pulled one back.
Bayern, with only the Champions League trophy left to fight for, was reduced to 10 men in the 73rd minute when defender Breno kicked Lars Stindl and was sent off.
"My players were under a lot pressure going into this game," van Gaal, in his second season at Bayern, told reporters. "After the first goal it got even bigger."
As for his future at the club, the 59-year-old former Barcelona and Netherlands coach said: "That is up to those in charge. I continue with my work but obviously after the third straight loss it becomes tricky."
Bayern's third straight defeat in all competitions, after its German Cup exit to Schalke 04 in midweek, left it in fourth place on 42 points, with Hanover third on 47. Runaway leader Borussia Dortmund is 12 points clear on 61 after its 1-0 win over Cologne on Friday.
Last-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach cut the gap to the relegation playoff spot to three points by beating Hoffenheim 2-0 while VfB Stuttgart for the first time in months dragged itself off the bottom places with a 1-0 win over Schalke.
Nuremberg's Christian Eigler scored four times as his team crushed St Pauli 5-0.
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