Bayern Munich want to make the next step toward their third consecutive Bundesliga title by picking up all three points at struggling Hannover on Saturday.
As the Bundesliga enters the final third of the 2014/2015 season, Bayern Munich have an eight point lead over chasers VfL Wolfsburg. What looks like a comfortable cushion is the smallest gap between in the last three seasons.
In 2013 and 2014, Bayern Munich set new records for winning the Bundesliga sooner than any other team had done in the past. Last season, they won the title in March, the month we have just entered.
"There are still 33 points to play for. Wolfsburg are in top form and scoring lots of goals, so we mustn't doze off!" Guardiola warned his side to not wane during his prematch news conference on Friday.
"If we win tomorrow, it's another step on the road to defending the title," the Catalan coach said ahead of an important week for the club which sees them playing Hannover, before hosting Donetsk in Champions League and then travelling to in-form Werder Bremen in mid-March.
Hannover have drawn three, and lost the other three of their first six games after the winter break and rapidly are falling down toward the relegation zone. But in his incomparable style, Guardiola singled out the Lower Saxony side's advantage. "Hannover have had the whole week to prepare but we've only had two days," he said.
The Catalan coach announced that he'll play his best available team, and, ahead of the comebacks of Philipp Lahm and Thiago Alcantara in the nearer future, already can welcome centre-back Medhi Benatia back to the squad. "We'll play with the best available team," Guardiola announced.
The starting formation should feature Franck Ribery, who escaped punishment after a violent conduct in the fifth minute of Bayern's cup victory against Braunschweig on Wednesday. "I understand him, I acted similar as a player," Guardiola said about the former France international, who tends to lose his temper when provoked.
"We need to control that, because it'll get difficult playing with 10 man for a longer period of time," Guardiola sad. "I want emotionality, Franck's not the same without it. We need Franck Ribery's game, without him we are not a top team."