Bundesliga champions Bayern only third best in Germany -- Hamann

Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann ranks Bayern Munich as only the third best team in Germany -- behind Borussia Dortmund and Moenchengladbach -- with the reigning German champions feeling the pressure both on and off the pitch. Bayern play strugglers Mainz, who are winless in their last five games, away on Saturday, but all is clearly not well with the Bavarian giants.

They start the weekend only fourth in the Bundesliga table behind leaders Dortmund and second-placed ‘Gladbach. Last Friday, club president Uli Hoeness and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge launched an emotional attack on the German media for what they dubbed “indecent” criticism of head coach Niko Kovac and his team during the recent four-match winless streak.

A 3-1 league win at Wolfsburg last Saturday ended the slide and lifted Bayern to fourth in the table, four points behind Dortmund, who they face away in a crunch Bundesliga showdown on November 10.