Guardiola: Crisis? What crisis?

Bayern Munich are not in crisis, according to Pep Guardiola, despite struggling on their return to the Bundesliga.

Pep Guardiola has dismissed suggestions that Bayern Munich are in crisis after taking just one point from a possible six following the mid-season break.

A 4-1 defeat at the hands of second-placed Wolfsburg was followed by a 1-1 draw with Schalke in midweek, with Jerome Boateng’s early dismissal in the latter fixture making life tougher for the Bundesliga holders.

Having seen their lead cut to eight points ahead of Saturday’s trip to struggling Stuttgart, Guardiola told reporters on Friday: “Crisis? There is no crisis. These things happen in football.

“We weren’t good enough in Wolfsburg but I was happy with the Schalke game.

“I’ve said it in other press conferences – it’s impossible to just keep winning, winning, winning for 11 months. Not even here.

“It is impossible always to win the title with a 25-point advantage over our rivals.”

Guardiola also confirmed that Franck Ribery and Rafinha are “much, much better” after their muscular and ligament injuries respectively, with both due to rejoin team training soon.

The Spaniard went on to reflect on his behaviour in the draw against Schalke, which saw him sprint to the corner flag and remonstrate with a linesman after a disallowed Robert Lewandowski goal.

“I have to stay in my coaching zone. I’m a serious guy, I’m sorry for leaving it. I hope it won’t happen in future,” he added, before also discussing Boateng’s sending-off for hauling down Sidney Sam.

“I’m a Catalan, we’re latino. We are a bit more emotional. I’m a very emotional guy.

“I agree with the fact that there was a foul, a penalty and a red card. However, I think that the three-game suspension [for Boateng] is too much.”