Heynckes plays down talk he may extend Bayern stay

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes played down president Uli Hoeness’ suggestion he could remain at the club beyond the end of the season.

The Bundesliga champions’ perfect record in Heynckes’ fourth spell in charge ended on Saturday with a surprise 2-1 loss at Borussia Monchengladbach.

Heynckes replaced Carlo Ancelotti in October in a deal until the end of the campaign, but Hoeness had talked up a potentially longer stay for the 72-year-old.

However, Heynckes said Bayern would have no trouble finding an “adequate” permanent coach to replace him at the end of the season.

“In the past, some of my players have also said that, but I think, like I said before, I don’t want to be answering the same questions over and over again,” he said after his side’s nine-game winning run was ended.

“I can only say, there is an agreement until June 30, 2018 and then it’ll be an entirely different situation to the one seven, eight weeks ago.

“Finding an adequate coach for Bayern Munich with the season underway is not so easy, but when the new season starts it’s completely different.

“Uli Hoeness reacted a little emotional to the last couple of weeks at the annual general meeting.”

Not our day. #BMGFCB pic.twitter.com/R4aM9bN7Xx

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) November 25, 2017

A Thorgan Hazard penalty and Matthias Ginter strike in the first half saw Bayern beaten at Borussia-Park despite Arturo Vidal’s 74th-minute goal.

Heynckes lamented the way his team, whose lead atop the Bundesliga was cut to three points, started the encounter.

“In my opinion, we lost today’s match during the first half. Not because we conceded the two goals, but because we played too passive, too slow,” he said.

“We didn’t invest enough and then it’s no wonder that such unlucky goals happen. The penalty first and then the second goal out of the blue, but in the second half my team had a great response.”