Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez has admitted the Bavarian giants need German league leaders Borussia Dortmund to slip up if they are to get back on top of the Bundesliga.
Gomez netted in Bayern's 2-0 win at home to Kaiserslautern in Munich on Saturday to keep them second, but they need Dortmund to falter.
"Winning was the important thing," said Gomez, the league's top scorer with 18 goals in 20 games.
"We have to keep it up now and obviously, we have to hope Dortmund slip up."
Bayern, who are two points behind Dortmund, are at Bundesliga bottom side Freiburg on Saturday before they travel to face FC Basel in the Round of 16 of the Champions League. They then host Schalke at the end of the month.
Munich have lost vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger for the foreseeable future with damaged ankle ligaments, while Dutch winger Arjen Robben is struggling for form and Bayern have lost some confidence in the process.
In contrast, defending champions Borussia Dortmund are going from strength to strength as Japan winger Shinji Kagawa hit his fourth goal in four games to keep his team top with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
The 22-year-old Kagawa finally unpicked the packed Leverkusen defence and fired home from a tight angle on the stroke of half-time for what proved to be the winner which keeps Dortmund two points clear of Bayern.
Having scored twice in the 3-1 home win over Hoffenheim a fortnight ago and in the 4-0 German Cup rout of Holstein Kiel in midweek, Kagawa is in fine form for the German champions who have gone 15 matches unbeaten.
Leverkusen defended well throughout, but will have their work cut out to contain holders Barcelona at home in the Champions League round of 16, first-leg on Tuesday.
Borussia Moenchengladbach enjoyed a 3-0 win at home to Schalke 04 on Saturday night to take over third place from the Royal Blues and remain three points behind Dortmund.
The hosts were 2-0 up after just 15 minutes with Dortmund-bound Marco and Hanke finding holes in the Schalke defence before Juan Arango added the third on 32 minutes from an indirect free-kick.
Having been knocked out of the German Cup in midweek by Moenchengladbach, Hertha Berlin's fortunes dipped further as they were hammered 5-0 at VfB Stuttgart and had defender Andreas Ottl sent off for a foul.
It was the fifth straight defeat for Berlin coach Michael Skibbe and the was sacked on Sunday just 41 days into the job.
Hertha host Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday and will need to improve substantially to avoid another defeat as they lie in 15th place, just above the relegation zone.
On Sunday, relegation contenders Nuremberg and Augsburg played out a goalless draw on Sunday, while Freiburg's 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg on Friday leaves them bottom of the table.
Hoffenheim who fired Holger Stanislawski as coach on Thursday and replaced him with ex-Hertha manager Markus Babbel, enjoyed their first win under their new coach with a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen.
Source: AFP
