Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal cancelled his squad’s traditional visit to the Oktoberfest beer festival on Monday and organised a training session instead after his side lost 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
Champions Bayern are currently in 12th place after seven games, 13 points behind surprise leaders Mainz.
“The board of Bayern has called off the planned visit of coaches and players to the Oktoberfest this lunchtime,” the club said in a brief statement.
“Because of the current sporting situation coach Louis van Gaal has set a training session instead.”
Club President Uli Hoeness said he does not want to see any smiling faces given the club’s current predicament and he has called on the team to “wake up”.
“The time has now come when we have got to stop covering things over and we have got to be clear about things,” he said. “The successes in the Champions League are all well and good, but we cannot be happy with the overall situation. We have all got to wake up. We have got to stop walking around in a good mood and whistling to ourselves. Enough is enough.”
“Only eight points after seven games is just not on. Mainz have now got a 13-points advantage and that is catastrophic for FC Bayern. I cannot remember every being so many points behind after only almost a quarter of the season.
“It looks like last season’s success with the (league and cup) double, the Champions League final and the World Cup in South Africa is giving some of our players vertigo – they don’t seem to have taken it all in. From now on, we cannot kid ourselves.”
