Flick reveals plans to quit as Bayern go seven points clear

Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick revealed on Saturday he wants to quit the Bundesliga leaders even though their 3-2 win at Wolfsburg left the champions seven points clear at the top of the table and on the verge of a ninth straight league title.

“I told the team that I informed the club during the week that I want out of my contract at the end of the season,” Flick told Sky amid tensions with sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for me.”

Being released from his Bayern contract would clear the way for Flick to take charge of Germany after Euro 2020.

Flick is one of the main candidates to be Germany head coach after Joachim Loew steps down following the June 11-July 11 tournament.

He has said taking charge of the German national team is “an option” but he has yet to speak to Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff who will ultimately decide.

Flick’s announcement capped a turbulent week for Bayern, who bounced back from their Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of PSG on Tuesday.

The visitors raced into a 2-0 lead with early goals by Jamal Musiala, 18, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Musiala danced through the Wolfsburg defence to put Bayern ahead after 15 minutes before Choupo-Moting took advantage of a mistake by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels to stab home the visitors’ second goal.

Wout Weghorst pulled a goal back for Wolfsburg, but Musiala made it 3-1 at half-time with a towering header to leave him on four Bundesliga goals this season.

Maximilian Philipp gave hosts Wolfsburg hope when he flicked home a cross just after the break.

The away win could have come at a price as Bayern defender Lucas Hernandez had to be helped off late on.

With five games to go, Bayern can wrap up the league title within a fortnight having extended their lead in the table after Leipzig’s goalless draw with Hoffenheim on Friday.

Victory would have moved second-placed Leipzig to within two points of Bayern but they were left frustrated.

“It definitely wasn’t our best game. Even though we didn’t create enough goalscoring chances, we were the more dominant side and were a bit unfortunate at the end with Yussuf Poulsen’s header,” manager Julian Nagelsmann said.

The hosts barely created a chance before the break and though they livened up in the second half they never really looked threatening against a disciplined Hoffenheim.

Until the late drama Marcel Sabitzer had gone closest to scoring with a left-foot effort that flashed just wide while Tyler Adams glanced a header wide from a great position.

Leipzig poured on late pressure with substitute Alexander Sorloth blasting over and when Poulsen headed home in the 95th minute it seemed the title race was well and truly back on.

But a VAR check showed that his header had brushed his arm before ending in the back of the net.

The draw left Leipzig on 61 points from 29 games,

Eintracht Frankfurt crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach, four days after head coach Adi Huetter confirmed he will leave to coach Gladbach next season.

Frankfurt’s defence crumbled and their five-match unbeaten run came to an abrupt halt as Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hofmann, Ramy Bensebaini and Hannes Wolf netted for the hosts.

The Eintracht squad also had to contend with sports director Fredi Bobic announcing in mid-week that he is leaving to manage Hertha Berlin from June 1.

Fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund, who host Werder Bremen on Sunday, can trim Frankfurt’s seven-point cushion in the last Champions League place for next season.

Union Berlin are now within a point of the European places after their 2-1 home win over Stuttgart.

Bottom side Schalke have only a mathematical chance of staying up after their 4-0 thrashing at mid-table Freiburg, whose winger Christan Guenter netted twice.

Schalke have five games left to bridge the 14-point gap to escape the bottom three.

Arminia Bielefeld climbed out of the bottom three thanks to a goalless draw at Augsburg, which pushed Hertha Berlin into the relegation fight.

The entire Hertha squad is in quarantine until April 28 and their next three games, starting with Sunday’s away match at Mainz, have been postponed following at least four cases of Covid-19 at the club.

Agence France-Presse