Guardiola: We´ll be back stronger

As Bayern Munich celebrated another dominant Bundesliga campaign, coach Pep Guardiola warned their rivals that they would be an even greater force next season.

Bayern finished 10 points clear of Wolfsburg this season, earning a third straight league title and a second in as many campaigns under Guardiola.

Disappointment came in a DFB-Pokal semi-final defeat to Borussia Dortmund, and a 5-3 aggregate reverse to Barcelona at the same stage of the UEFA Champions League.

That has left many to deem Bayern’s season as a failure, and Guardiola has promised to return stronger next term.

“Congratulations to the team, my staff and our fans,” he said. “They’ve supported us brilliantly, especially against Barcelona.

“We’ll be back even stronger next season with the best possible squad. We always have to keep going.”

“It’s still very special indeed when you’re top of the pile after 34 matches,” added Philipp Lahm. “It can never be taken for granted. A lot of work goes into it. The team deserves it.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger – linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena – scored the second in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Mainz as Bayern signed off with a victory in front of their home fans.

“It’s been a very good season. We’ve won the league for the third time in a row, which doesn’t just happen automatically,” said Schweinsteiger.

“It’s the first time for me in fact. In the Champions League we lost it in the last 10 minutes [of the first leg] against Barcelona, otherwise we might have made the final in that competition too.

“We know how it unfolded in the cup. We were close to making both finals. Taking into account all the injuries, we’ve done very well overall.”