Kovac aware Bayern future rests on two title deciders

Bayern Munich players pose for a team group photo before the match. Photo: Reuters

BERLIN: Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac is aware his future with the German champions rests on Saturday’s Bundesliga title-deciding finale and the German Cup final despite being contracted to 2021.

Leaders Bayern are two points clear of Borussia Dortmund going into the final fixtures this weekend looking for a win at home to Kovac’s former club Eintracht Frankfurt to secure a seventh consecutive league crown.

The Bavarians also face RB Leipzig in the German Cup final later this month.

But Kovac has had a challenging first season, facing calls for him to be axed in November when Bayern were nine points behind Dortmund.

A winning run after the winter break carried Bayern above Dortmund, their Champions League exit against Liverpool in the round of 16 again piled the pressure on Kovac.

“In the winter we hoped to have the chance on the last match day to win the title. Now we have it and we want to use it,” Kovac told reporters on Thursday.

“I feel well. The here and now is what matter to me. I want us to be champions. We had to work a lot, had to suffer a lot and now we are in a situation where we can decide it for ourselves.”

Bayern had a chance to seal the title last week but slipped up with a draw at RB Leipzig. Failure to win the Bundesliga would again raise the prospect of a quick Kovac departure.

“My contract runs for two years and I want to fulfil it,” he said. “I know at Bayern we have to win titles, but believe me, I am independent. I don’t have the pressure that I have to earn millions.

“I do it out of joy. The money is not the primary goal. What comes will come. I will try to influence it by winning titles, but if it comes differently then it is what it is.”