Bayern Munich vs Hertha BSC Berlin preview - Guardiola hoping to wrap things up

Posted Saturday, April 25, 2015 by PA

With Barcelona in the back of his mind, Pep Guardiola struggled to turn his attention to Hertha Berlin when he met the media in Munich on Friday.

The Catalan coach was handed a "special" meeting with his former club in the semi-finals of the Champions League and while that tie may be just under two weeks away, it is bound to dominate the headlines until it takes place.

"We're going to have to wrap up the league as quick as we can," said Guardiola, aware that the league could become his greatest distraction between now and May 6, when his side run out at the Nou Camp.

They can do that on Saturday evening with a win making them all but mathematically Bundesliga champions for the third year running.

"If we win, then we're practically champions," said Guardiola. "Then Wolfsburg would have to score very, very many goals."

The celebrations would have to wait, though, with no champagne corks popping for the time being.

"No, no, no - we've got Dortmund (in the DFB-Pokal) on Tuesday and that's going to be a very, very difficult situation," said Guardiola, trying to keep his focus on the task in hand, even though Barcelona is in his thoughts.

Hertha will be hoping to take advantage of those distractions by wrapping up their place in the Bundesliga next season and preventing any home celebrations in Munich.

"A draw would be a huge boost to our image," said their coach Pal Dardai, with Hertha's general manager Michael Preetz even more explicit.

"We're not going there to congratulate them on the title," he said.

Roy Beerens will miss the trip, but that is nothing compared to the injury problems Guardiola still has to contend with.

He has now lost Holger Badstuber until the end of the season due to injury, although he hopes the treatment room will soon start to empty - particularly for the clash with Barca.