Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac will be fully focused on his own side this Saturday as he bids to win a first Bundesliga title as coach. - © Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images
Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac will be fully focused on his own side this Saturday as he bids to win a first Bundesliga title as coach. - © Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images
bundesliga

Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac: "I'm not interested in what Borussia Dortmund do"

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Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac insists he will not be keeping half an eye on Borussia Dortmund's game this weekend and will instead be focusing on beating Eintracht Frankfurt to ensure the Bundesliga title remains at the Allianz Arena for another year.

Kovac's charges only need a draw to do so, having overturned what was at one stage a nine-point deficit on BVB to go into the final day of the season with a two-point advantage at the league summit.

All of which means the 2018/19 title race will reach a deafening crescendo on Saturday afternoon. Bayern host an impressive Frankfurt side needing a victory of their own to secure UEFA Champions League qualification, while Dortmund must beat Borussia Mönchengladbach away – and hope their Bayern voodoo dolls stuffed full of pins do the trick.

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"I haven't asked about their [Dortmund's] results recently and I won't be doing so this weekend either," said Kovac at his final press conference of the Bundesliga season on Thursday. "We're in a situation where we have matters in our own hands. I'm not interested in what Dortmund do. That won't influence us at all."

And although a point would do for Bayern against Kovac's former employers given their superior goal difference (which is 17 better than Dortmund's), the 47-year-old will not be adopting more defensive tactics on Matchday 34.

"We're going to go for the win against Frankfurt," he said. "And I'm assuming they will too […] During the winter break we wanted to have the chance to win the league come the end of the season. Now we've got that chance and we want to make the most of it. We're extremely motivated."

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Bayern will be without injured duo James Rodriguez and Manuel Neuer in their bid to seal a seventh straight league crown, but can call upon veterans Rafinha, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who will all leave the club this summer.

Kovac refused to say how much of a part they will play, but did reserve special praise for the latter duo: "Whatever you say about them wouldn't be enough; you need superlatives to describe them. They're great human beings and what they've achieved in sporting terms is unique. They'll both be big losses to the club […] I would have loved to have coached them when they were 25."