Lucien Favre 'calm' but hints at Borussia Dortmund exit after Bayern defeat

Defeat at home leaves Dortmund trailing Bundesliga leaders by seven points with six games left

Bayern Munich's French forward Kingsley Coman controls the ball during his team's 1-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga clash at Westfalenstadion on Tuesday, May 26. AFP

Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies is shown a yellow card by referee Tobias Stieler. Reuters

Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard in action with Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek. Reuters

Dortmund's German midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud shoots at Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. AFP

Dortmund manager Lucien Favre. EPA

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic wearing a face mask. Reuters

Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich in action against Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Axel Witsel. EPA

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, right, and Joshua Kimmich celebrate after the 1-0 victory. EPA

Bayern Munich's German forward Thomas Muller plays the ball. AFP

Referee Tobias Stieler speaks with Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick. AFP

Dortmund's Swiss goalkeeper Roman Buerki makes a save. AFP

Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski, left, and Dortmund's German defender Mats Hummels. AFP

Bayern Munich' manager Hansi Flick, right, and Borussia Dortmund counterpart Lucien Favre. AFP

Dortmund's German midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud shoots. AFP

Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry in action with Borussia Dortmund's Thomas Delaney. Reuters

Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich (not pictured) scores against Borussia Dortmund. Reuters

Bayern Munich players celebrate with Joshua Kimmich. AFP

Bayern players celebrate taking the lead against Dortmund. EPA

Bayern Munich's David Alaba and Alphonso Davies in action with Borussia Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard. Reuters

Borussia Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland in action. Reuters

Bayern Munich's German midfielder Joshua Kimmich takes a throw in. AFP

Bayern Munich head coach Hans-Dieter Flick. AFP

General view inside Signal Iduna Park. Reuters

Bayern Munich's German forward Thomas Muller, right, and Dortmund's Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi vie for the ball. AFP

Lucien Favre has hinted he may leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the 2019/20 season following Tuesday's defeat to Bayern Munich that left the Rurh Valley club seven points adrift of the Bundesliga leaders.

With only six games remaining, it seems unlikely Dortmund will reel in the Bavarians to stop them being crowned German champions for a record eighth successive season.

For the second season running under Favre, second-placed Dortmund find themselves wanting at the tail end of the campaign that only restarted two weeks ago following a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swiss gave a resigned grin when asked if Tuesday's 1-0 home loss to Bayern, settled by Joshua Kimmich's delightful chip, proved breaking Bayern's stranglehold on the championship was beyond Favre's reach.

"That's been said here for months," said Favre, 62, who has a year left on his Dortmund contract.

"I know how these things go and I will talk about it in a few weeks.

"I'm staying calm and I trust in myself."

The home defeat in Dortmund came on the back of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Bayern last November at Munich's Allianz Arena.

"It's going be difficult - seven points [to make up] in six games, that is brutally hard," said Favre.

According to German daily Bild on Wednesday, Dortmund's bosses made contact "in the past few months" with Niko Kovac, who was sacked by Bayern in November, as a possible successor to Favre.

Bild also claim that RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann is Dortmund's ideal candidate, but the 32-year-old is under contract until 2023.