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Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti admits his side had an off day in their 2-2 home draw to struggling Mainz.
The Bundesliga leaders twice had to come from behind to secure a point which extended their lead at the top to nine, with second-placed Leipzig playing on Sunday with the chance to cut that advantage to six with four games to play.
Arjen Robben and Thiago Alcantara both produced equalisers after on-loan Stoke forward Bojan Krkic’s third-minute opener and then Daniel Brosinski’s penalty just before the break.
“We didn’t play well today. It was difficult for us,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“It was hard, but we expected more. We were not as compact as usual in the first half.
“We should have done better. In the second half we were more compact, we played better and were able to compensate.”
It was not the ideal preparation ahead of Bayern’s midweek German Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund, who moved to third with a 3-2 win at at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Marco Reus converted from the penalty spot in the 10th minute following a foul by Mahmoud Dahoud on Christian Pulisic – probably just outside the area – to put Dortmund ahead.
Lars Stindl equalised before the break after a poor pass from Mikel Merino was intercepted, and Marcel Schmelzer deflected a cross into his own net three minutes after the interval to put Gladbach ahead.
But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had been rested on the bench, made an immediate impact two minutes after he came on for Reus, when he rounded gloveman Yann Sommer and scored from a tight angle in the 59th minute. Raphael Guerreiro then headed the winner from a free kick three minutes from time.
“I’m confident that we will put in a very different performance against Dortmund,” said Ancelotti, whose side have gone three matches in all competitions without a win.
Augsburg went down 3-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt to stay in the relegation play-off place on 32 points while a 1-0 defeat for Wolfsburg at Hertha Berlin left three teams – Mainz, Wolfsburg and Hamburg – level just one point better off.
Bottom side Darmstadt won 2-1 at SV Hamburg for their first away points of the season to stave off early relegation for the second straight weekend.
Second-last Ingolstadt meanwhile lost 4-2 at home to Werder Bremen. Striker Max Kruse scored all four goals for the visitors to leave Ingolstadt four points adrift of Augsburg.
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