Lahm concedes Bayern’s fading title challenge

(GSM) – Bayern München defender Philipp Lahm has conceded that the Bavarian giants’ title hopes are fading following their 3-3 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday.

Bayern failed to kill the game off despite dominating the first half, hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty.

The home side took full advantage of Bayern’s lapses and hit back by almost winning the game before Lahm’s late equaliser salvaged a point.

And the Germany international has admitted that it’s not the first time Bayern have been caught off-guard.

“We are so many points behind that we cannot afford to drop any more, and we have dropped some here,” he said. “We lost the ball too easily at the start of the second half and this is not the first time this has happened.

“It happened also against Cluj when we just slept for the first 15 minutes of the second half. The same thing happened today, only this time we have been punished.”

Coach Louis van Gaal heaped praise on his side during the interval but revealed he was furious at full time.

“I am very disappointed and even a bit angry,” he said after emerging from the dressing room, where he had given his team a piece of his mind which could be heard from almost all corners of the Borussia Park stadium.

“I had to raise my voice a lot. At half time, I had to pay my team a compliment and tell them that I had never seen Bayern play so well this season, and then this happens.”

Ninth placed Bayern host seventh placed Nürnberg next weekend, while League leaders Borussia Dortmund travel to Hannover 96 in their late Sunday encounter.