Kimmich: Bayern need to stay ‘hungry’ for Champions League bid
Under head coach Flick, Bayern have won all 11 games since the season resumed in mid-May
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich says the double-winning German champions must stay “fully focused and greedy” for more silverware during their two-week holiday before launching their assault on the Champions League.
“Now it’s time to recharge our batteries and then tackle the Champions League with full focus and greed,” the 25-year-old told magazine Sport Bild.
Head coach Hans-Dieter Flick sent Bayern on a two-week holiday after winning the German Cup last Saturday before fine-tuning their preparations for the Champions League.
After completing the double with a 4-2 cup final win over Leverkusen, Bundesliga champions Bayern are on a 17-match winning streak dating back to February.
Under Flick, Bayern have won all 11 games since the season resumed in Germany in mid-May amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bayern are chasing a treble and are among the favorites in Europe after routing Chelsea 3-0 in London in the last 16, first leg, last February before the Champions League halted due to COVID-19. Bayern still need to finish the tie to reach the quarterfinals and the draw for the remaining rounds in the knockout stages takes place this Friday. Kimmich called on his teammates to keep training during their break to maintain the “hunger” for the Champions League finals in Lisbon next month. “It will be decisive how we return from vacation: We want to keep that feeling, that hunger,” Kimmich added.
Having stumbled last November, when Flick succeeded Niko Kovac who was sacked following a 5-1 thrashing by Frankfurt, Bayern are now in great form.
Robert Lewandowski has scored 51 goals this season, including 34 in the Bundesliga and is the Champions League’s top-scorer with 11.
Behind the Poland striker, Thomas Mueller has 25 assists, including a record 21 in the Bundesliga.
Kimmich has bossed the defensive midfield alongside Germany teammate Leon Goretzka and suggests Bayern have developed a mental edge.
“In the last two seasons, mentality has been the most important factor in winning the German league title,” said Kimmich.
“FC Bayern may be ahead of other teams in this respect.”
Man United under pressure in CL bid
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United may need to win all of their remaining Premier
League games to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Leicester’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Tuesday means if United, who travel to Aston Villa on Thursday, win their remaining five matches they are guaranteed a top-four finish.
They are in fifth place, four points behind Leicester with a game in hand.
Fifth spot could prove enough pending the outcome of Manchester City’s appeal against their two-year European ban.
“You never know what is going to happen, but the teams around us are playing well,” Solskjaer said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “We just focus on this one, the next one.
“If we win every single one of them, we are in the top four. We cannot rely on help from anyone else, we just have to do it ourselves.” The Norwegian boss said the team’s 16-game unbeaten run in all competitions had infused them with confidence.