Borussia Dortmund refuse to fold as Bayern Munich's Bundesliga lead takes a hit

Bayern's loss on Saturday gave fresh belief to the chasing pack, with Dortmund remaining second despite the sizeable gap. While the advantage left Bayern firmly in control, key figures at Dortmund made it clear they had no intention of easing off.

Centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck said Dortmund's focus was on keeping the pressure on for as long as possible."I don't want the title to be decided in March," Schlotterbeck told Bild. "I want to stay in the race as long as possible. If we cut the gap to four or five points, they'll start to think about it.

"They still have to come to us. We want to be there when they make mistakes."

Captain Emre Can struck a similar tone, acknowledging Bayern's strength but backing Dortmund's own form."Eight points is a lot and Bayern are having an outstanding season," Can said. "But so are we. We're concentrating on ourselves and we'll see what happens at the end."

Managing director Lars Ricken also pointed to Bayern's defeat as a reminder they are not unbeatable."It's a good sign for the Bundesliga that they've lost," Ricken said. "It shows they can be beaten. We've dropped points late in games, and that has hurt us.

"Now we have to focus on ourselves."

Bayern remain clear favourites, but Dortmund's message was simple: the race was still alive. 

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