Bayern Munich full-back Philipp Lahm admitted the situation in the Bundesliga is looking grim after his side were held to a 3-3 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach yesterday.

Bayern failed to kill the game off when they dominated in the first half, hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Gladbach hit back and almost won the game before Lahm's late equaliser salvaged a point which, according to the German international, is still too little.

"We are so many points behind that we cannot afford to drop any more, and we have dropped some here," he said. "We lost the ball too easily at the start of the second half and this is not the first time this has happened.

"It happened also against Cluj in which we just slept for the first 15 minutes of the second half. The same thing happened today, only this time we have been punished."

And coach Louis van Gaal, who was heaping praise on his side during the interval, turned a dark shade of red afterwards.

We are so many points behind that we cannot afford to drop any more, and we have dropped some here. We lost the ball too easily at the start of the second half and this is not the first time this has happened.
Philipp Lahm, Bayern Munich defender

"I am very disappointed and even a bit angry," he said after emerging from the dressing room, where he had given his team a piece of his mind which could be heard from almost all corners of the Borussia Park stadium.

"I had to raise my voice a lot. At half time, I had to pay my team a compliment and tell them that I had never seen Bayern play so well this season, and then this happens."

Bayern could slip 12 points behind Borussia Dortmund today while they are already two adrift of their Bavarian rivals Nurnberg, who will come to the Allianz Arena in buoyant mood next weekend after opening up a two-point gap over their neighbours thanks to a 3-1 win over Cologne yesterday.

Rarely have Nurnberg gone into a game against the record champions with an advantage to defend, particularly not after almost a third of the season, and their director of sport Martin Bader is looking forward to the trip.

"To have 18 points after 11 games is a great feeling," he said. "It is nice to be able to travel to Munich without a rope tied around our necks. We will go there without any pressure and hope to make it an open contest."

Nevertheless, Bader is not getting carried away with his side's rise to sixth in the table, just one point adrift of the top three. "We know who we have got behind us," he added. "Therefore, we do have one and a half eyes still looking below us. We know how to deal with the situation and how to cope with the fact that we are currently ahead of Bayern."

The win was Nurnberg's third in their past four games, and once again they had to come from behind to take the points. This, according to coach Dieter Hecking, has become their biggest strength. "We know how to bounce back from setbacks," he said. "I have got to play a huge compliment to my side."