BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has said that the pressure is now on league leaders Bayern Munich after his side bounced back in the Bundesliga title race on Saturday.
Bayern missed the chance to wrap up a seventh successive title when they were held to a 0-0 draw at RB Leipzig, while Dortmund beat Fortuna Duesseldorf 3-2 to keep themselves in the running until the final round of games next weekend.
鈥淲e have given the Bundesliga a final on the last day,鈥� said Watzke. 鈥淭hat is good for the league and we are proud of that.鈥�
鈥淲e have been under brutal pressure, but now the pressure is heading south.鈥�
鈥淏ayern have it all to lose, we can only win.鈥�
Having held a nine-point lead at the top of the table in December, Dortmund looked down and out after they slipped four points behind Bayern last weekend.
Yet they battled their way through a nervous game against Duesseldorf to haul themselves back into the race.
鈥淲e need to control the game better toward the end and stay calmer,鈥� coach Lucien Favre told Sky, after his team survived a frantic last few minutes.
Dortmund must now beat Favre鈥檚 former club Borussia Moenchengladbach next Saturday, and hope that Bayern slip up at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
鈥淲e have to give everything to win in Gladbach,鈥� said Favre.
Bayern, meanwhile, were left to rue a missed opportunity after they were held in Leipzig.
They came within inches of securing the title on Saturday. Leon Goretzka鈥檚 second-half goal was ruled out after VAR ruled that Robert Lewandowski鈥檚 foot was in an offside position.
Bayern president Uli Hoeness called the offside decision 鈥渁 joke,鈥� but CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that Bayern were happy with a point.
鈥淲e would rather have won the title today, but the result does not put us in a worse position,鈥� he told Sky.
鈥淚n Frankfurt, we face a team who have had a very good season, but we have a good chance to win the championship.鈥�
Bayern have home advantage against Frankfurt next Saturday, and the chance to be crowned champions in the Allianz Arena for the first time ever.
The Munich giants have not secured the title on home turf since 2000, despite having won 12 Bundesliga crowns since then.
Bayern coach Niko Kovac also faces his former club next Saturday, and told Sky that he still talks to his former Frankfurt colleagues.
鈥淚 still have contact to one or two players and a lot of contact to the officials there,鈥� said Kovac.
鈥淲e will need passion and the will to win next week.鈥�