Bayern perfection

          

   It's certainly not domestic form that has undermined him this time. Bayern have been imperious in the Bundesliga. In a year of processional title races in the major European leagues, their victory has been the most convincing.With Shaqiri an option on one flank and Muller on the other, suddenly there is cover for both, which not merely means their absences are less damaging, but also means they can be cajoled into performing defensive duties they had previously perhaps neglected. They stand 20 points clear of Borussia Dortmund and will seal the title with six games remaining if they can avoid defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Given they've lost just once in the league all season, and have won every league game since Christmas, that shouldn't prove too much of a problem. So confident are they at the moment that, even resting a number of players ahead of that quarter-final, they hammered Hamburg 9-2 last weekend. Stern-faced as ever, their director of football Matthias Sammer expressed disappointment that they'd twice conceded from corners.It's easy to say that, of course, but realistically such perfectionism is applicable only to the very best. Bayern were very good last season but they are better this. Signings have helped. The Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic may not be a technical improvement on Mario Gomez but he has an extraordinary energy that sets Bayern's pressing game in motion. "His stamina is endless said Felix Magath, his coach at Wolfsburg. "I think he could play two back-to-back high tempo games." This season there seems to have been a concerted effort for universal rigour.The increased ferocity of Bayern's pressing has been a feature of this season - and it was startling how unsettled Juventus were by it on Tuesday, even the usually unflappable Andrea Pirlo looking flustered.That is part of the secret of Bayern's success - they are pursuing perfection relentlessly. In part, that is a product of the trauma of last season. Not only did Borussia Dortmund pip them to the league title and beat them in the Cup final but, having seemingly done the hard work by overcoming Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, they lost to Chelsea on home soil in the final, a game in which they were perhaps guilty of complacency. Certainly the way Thomas Muller celebrated as he was substituted seemed to indicate a lack of respect for Chelsea's capacity to force an equaliser.