Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola is poised to win the Bundesliga title in record time on Tuesday at Hertha Berlin on his debut season with the Bavarian giants.
A 19th consecutive league victory at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium will give Bayern their 24th German title with seven matches left, beating their own record they set last season.
Bayern’s 2-0 win at Mainz on Saturday left them a massive 23 points clear in the league and they will be uncatchable if they win at Hertha.
“I’m just pleased about winning against one of the toughest teams we’ll face this season,” said Guardiola in Mainz.
“We only need one more win now. It’s in our own hands. We can be champions in the capital.
“We’ve extended our record to 18 wins on the trot. That’s the result of a lot of hard work.”
Having won 14 of a possible 19 titles during four years as Barcelona coach, Guardiola is set to claim his third title in nine months at Bayern having already won the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Having won the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal under Guardiola’s predecessor Jupp Heynckes last season, Bayern have continued their stranglehold on the German league title.
Guardiola’s side are just eight matches away from becoming the first team to ever go through an entire season in Germany’s top flight unbeaten.
Bayern left it late at Mainz with midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger striking with a header on 82 minutes.
His Germany team-mate Mario Goetze then netted the European champions’ second four minutes later.
Bayern fired in 23 shots on goal to Mainz’s four as they extended their record unbeaten run to 51 Bundesliga matches and earn their 18th consecutive league win.
Having drawn Manchester United in the quarter-finals, Bayern have made no secret of their desire to be the first team to defend the Champions League title.
“We’re not really concerned about when we win the title, we want to maintain our rhythm,” said Bayern goal-scorer Schweinsteiger.
“You always have to work hard for victory here in Mainz.
“They’re very aggressive and they press high up the field.
“The first half wasn’t easy, but they were tired towards the end.”
Bayern’s Germany defender Jerome Boateng said he is relishing the clash against Hertha at Berlin’s Olympic City having been born in the capital.
“It’s wonderful that we could win the league in Berlin, which is where it all started for me,” said the 25-year-old, the half brother of Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng.
“We’ve prepared the way for it today and taken a step closer.”
Elsewhere in Germany, Borussia Dortmund kept on their second-place pace with a commanding 3-0 away win over Hannover. Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus netted in the second half to add to Mats Hummels’ first-half strike in the win.
Schalke continued to stalk second-place Dortmund with a relatively easy 3-1 win over Eintracht Braunschweig. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was joined by Adam Szalai and Leon Goretzka in scoring for Schalke. The club are one point behind Dortmund, with 50 points from 26 matches.
Borussia Monchengladbach stayed hot on the heels of fading Bayer Leverkusen, winning 3-0 at home over Hertha Berlin. Monchengladbach are fifth in the Bundesliga with 42 points, two behind Bayer, although Leverkusen have a game in hand.
In the race at the bottom, Stuttgart leapfrogged woeful Hamburg with a 1-0 win to put them on 24 points in 15th. Hamburg, with 23 points, are in 16th and headed currently for the relegation play-offs, only ahead of Nurnberg and a gauranteed drop on goal difference.
Wolfsburg and Augsburg also drew 1-1.
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