Bayern´s Butt fears repeat of Leverkusen battle

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt said on Sunday he fears history will repeat itself from his time at Bayer Leverkusen unless the defending champions start winning in the Bundesliga soon.

Bayern have lost their last two league games, have picked up just eight points from their first seven Bundesliga games and are already 13 points behind surprise leaders Mainz.

“We have reached the point where we have got to win in the Bundesliga, we have got to,” Butt told German daily Bild with Bayern facing Hanover next Saturday.

“We have got to find solutions and find them quickly. The situation is dramatic.”

Butt, 36, was part of the Bayer Leverkusen team which, after finishing second in the league, and beaten finalists in the German Cup and Champions League in 2002, only narrowly avoided relegation the following season.

Bayern lost 2-0 to Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League final after winning both the German league and cup, while 13 of the Bayern squad played at the World Cup, eight of those for Germany.

“Not only were we in the Champions League final with Leverkusen, but we also had very many players in the summer of 2002 at the World Cup,” he said.

“Those efforts and successes certainly played a role over the course of the season.”

But Butt’s Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal brushed off the goalkeepers comments that the German giants are in dire straits.

“There is no crisis at Bayern Munich,” insisted the Dutchman on German television.

“We’re playing well, there is a mental problem and my players are missing the last five percent needed to be at their peak.”