Former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has claimed that the pressure to win the Bundesliga is much higher at his former club than at current champions Borussia Dortmund.
BVB clinched consecutive Bundesliga titles over the past two seasons, but the retired Germany custodian has played down the significance of their achievement because of the reduced expectations at Signal Iduna Park.
“No-one demands that Dortmund be the champions again. What do they have to lose?” mused Kahn to Bild.
“The larger pressure lies elsewhere. At Dortmund you can be the champion. But at Bayern you have to be the champion. That is a huge difference.”
The 43-year-old also opened up about the plight of Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who after struggling with an ankle problem for months, is set to be benched for the side’s seasonal opener against Greuther Furth on Saturday.
“Right now he [Schweinsteiger] is at a crossroads. He must transfer all of the doubt into positive energy. That means a lot of hard work. But if you do that, you will usually be rewarded.”
“Football is a business, it is not fair. Others will move quickly to replace you. You must ask yourself, ‘Am I willing to put away the negative energy? Can I go beyond myself?’”
Kahn also defended Mario Gomez, who has been ruled out of action for a month with an ankle injury and sees his place at club level threatened by summer signings Claudio Pizarro and Mario Mandzukic.
“Mario is one of the best penalty-area forwards in Europe at the moment. Having said that, there is some scope for improvement,” he concluded.