Bundesliga
Joshua Kimmich: "RB Leipzig game will be decisive"
The winter break can't come soon enough for some players, but Joshua Kimmich is already looking forward to defending champions Bayern Munich's potential title decider with current Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig.
Bayern ended 2019 in third place, four points adrift of Leipzig, who go in at halfway as nominal Herbstmeister (autumn champions), and on the back of a 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Hertha Berlin (a), Schalke (h) and Mainz (a) are first up for Bayern in the new year, while Leipzig take on Union Berlin (h), Eintracht Frankfurt (a) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (h) before travelling to Munich on 9 February 2020.
Kimmich, 24, believes the meeting with his former club will go a long way to deciding whether the Bundesliga title remains in Munich for an eighth successive season or ships out to the Red Bull Arena for the first time.
"I think Leipzig will continue to pick up points in the Rückrunde - from what I've seen, they've been dominant," Kimmich said, as reported by spox.com, following Bayern's workmanlike 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. "That's why it's even more important for us to keep picking up points. We play them at home on 9 February. That'll be a decisive game."
Watch: Bayern had to settle for a point in Leipzig on Matchday 4
Bayern went unbeaten in their first six matches of the season, but fell four points off the pace following a run of one win, one draw and two defeats that cost Niko Kovac his job as head coach on 2 November. Under interim boss Hansi Flick, the record champions have won five from seven and progressed to the UEFA Champions League last 16 with a 100 per cent record.
"It could have been a lot worse for us," Kimmich acknowledged. "The way the coach responded, particularly to setbacks in our last couple of games, was really impressive, and it's been a lot of fun playing under him. Now we need to recharge the batteries, get off to a good start after the winter break and not drop so many points as we did earlier in the season, so that we put Leipzig and Gladbach under pressure."
Kimmich is chasing his fifth straight Bundesliga title since joining Bayern in July 2015, following a three-year stint at Leipzig in Germany's third and second tiers. The 48-time Germany international has made 197 competitive appearances for the Bavarian club, also winning two DFB Cups.