“Of course I hope we win the title on Saturday, but we have seen what can happen in football,” said Kovac, with a nod to the unlikely midweek Champions League semi-final recoveries of the two English sides.
Despite his caution, Kovac said he was proud of the way his team had fought back after finding themselves nine points behind Borussia Dortmund back in December.
Now they lead by four points with just two games left, starting with RB Leipzig on Saturday.
“The team really had to pull the wagon out of the muck, and they have managed to do that, but now we need to get through the last two games,” added the coach.
On Saturday, Bayern will be without goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for the first of two season-defining May clashes with Leipzig.
Neuer, who has been out since mid-April with a calf strain, had hoped to return to the Bayern goal in time for the penultimate league game of the season, but Kovac confirmed on Thursday that he was yet to make a full recovery.
“Manuel won’t come to Leipzig. We hope that he can train next week and be in the squad for the last two games,” said Kovac, whose team face Eintracht Frankfurt on the last day before another meeting with Leipzig in the German Cup final on May 25.
Kovac said that his team are focusing on the chance to win the league on Saturday, rather than viewing the game as a dress rehearsal for the cup final.
“We have to differentiate, they are two games against the same opponent but in a very different context.”
Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick, meanwhile, said that he didn’t care about the title race and that Saturday’s game was a dry run for the cup.
“We know that a successful result on Saturday could have a psychological effect ahead of the cup final,” he said on Thursday.
– Dortmund title hopes fade –
If Bayern do win, then runners-up Dortmund will be left to rue missed opportunities in a rollercoaster season.
Having held such a commanding lead earlier this year, Dortmund now need to get a better result than Bayern in their parallel game at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf on Saturday if they are to stay in the title race.
