Hans-Joachim Watzke: ‘The pressure is now on Bayern’ as Borussia Dortmund take title race to the final day

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke believes that the pressure is now back on Bayern Munich after seeing his team take the title race to the final day.

Borussia Dortmund needed to win against Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday and hope that Bayern Munich did not beat RB Leipzig to keep the title race going. And the Black and Yellows got the job done as they squeezed to a 3-2 win over last season’s 2. Bundesliga champions thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic, Thomas Delaney and Mario Gotze. At the same time, Bayern were left frustrated as they were held to a goalless draw by a resilient RB Leipzig side away from home.

Bayern’s lead at the top of the table now stands at two points ahead of next season’s finale. And Dortmund CEO Hans Joachim Watzke has heaped praise on his side for taking the title race to the final day of the season, promising that Der BVB will give their all next weekend.

Speaking at the press conference following Borussia Dortmund’s win over Fortuna Dusseldorf, Watzke said:

"“We have given the Bundesliga a final on the last day. That is good for the league and we are proud of that. We have been under brutal pressure, but now the pressure is heading south. Bayern have it all to lose, we can only win.”“I think we’ve played a great campaign. At the moment, we’ve got 18 more points than we did at the same stage last year. I must congratulate the team and the coaching staff for that. We’ll give everything we’ve got on the final day.”"

Borussia Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre was pleased that his team got the job done against a dangerous Dusseldorf side, but admitted that it will be difficult to overcome the two point deficit on the final day of the season.

"“It wasn’t an easy game today,” Favre said. “We knew that Dusseldorf can be very dangerous. We played with patience, which wasn’t always attractive, but that’s how we found the gaps.”“Ultimately it was difficult, but we won, which is the most important thing,” Favre added. “We’ve only got a chance if we win our game away at Gladbach and if Frankfurt win in Munich.”"

Christian Pulisic, who scored in his final game at the Westfalenstadion as a Dortmund player, said that the Black and Yellows must keep believing as they look to win their first Bundesliga title since 2012.

"“We have to keep believing,” Pulisic said. “We have to give everything we’ve got to win. We can only control what we do and it obviously depends on Bayern. The manager keeps telling us that it’s possible. We’ll see what happens.”"

The final day of the season will see Borussia Dortmund travel to Borussia Monchengladbach, while Bayern Munich host Eintracht Frankfurt.