Tomorrow's battles bother Bayern

FC Bayern München are celebrating a historic back-to-back double but already Felix Magath's side are planning for a better season in 2006/07.

Final success
A 1-1 draw at 1. FC Kaiserslautern was enough to see Bayern claim the title on Saturday, as nearest rivals Hamburger SV were defeated 4-2 at Hertha BSC Berlin. There was time for the club to reflect on a job well done in Germany this season, but not too much as thoughts turned to the next campaign.

Hoeness grateful
Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness was quick to credit Magath with the success. "When Magath arrived [in July 2004] we were not German champions," he said. "Now we have won two championships and two German Cups in succession. He has not made many mistakes." That lack of fault has instilled a great belief in the side, with captain Michael Ballack revealing: "We were convinced we would get the point we needed at Kaiserslautern. When I saw the score from Berlin the tension went away. We defended the double - nobody did that before."

Boat trip
The Bayern players and coaches celebrated their domestic success with a boat trip down the river Rhine on Saturday night, a week after greeting their 1-0 German Cup final win against Eintracht Frankfurt with a more modest party. "We all have earned a week in life to enjoy," said Hoeness. However, while the players let their hair down, there is clearly plenty of movement behind the scenes as the club are determined to mount a renewed challenge in next season's UEFA Champions League after failing to get beyond the first knockout round this season.

Summer recruits
Some big Bundesliga names have been mentioned as potential summer recruits at the Säbener Strasse. Hamburger SV's Daniel van Buyten has been linked, along with FC Schalke 04 midfielder Lincoln while 1. FC Köln striker Lukas Podolski is almost certain to arrive after the FIFA World Cup finals. However, Hoeness has ruled out more sweeping changes, saying: "Our transfer policy will be very low key". Indeed, it may be that less is more for Hoeness, who added: "Our squad is too big. This makes the coach want to be every player's friend and this is not good for their performance."

Departing stars
The summer will see both Bixente Lizarazu and Jens Jeremies retiring, while the futures of eight-time Bayern title winner Mehmet Scholl and Zé Roberto remain uncertain. With Ballack expected to join Chelsea FC, there will be one large hole to fill in the Bayern midfield. Magath has already expressed his desire to move Roque Santa Cruz, Julio dos Santos or Sebastian Deisler into Ballack's midfield berth and he is not interested in having more big names to juggle.

'Entertaining football'
Ultimately, it seems that Magath wants a settled side to work with next season with a core of players who know each other well. He also wants a side which has style as well as efficiency, saying: "We want to emphasise the element of playing entertaining football next year."