BAYERN SPORTING DIRECTOR SALIHAMIDZIC SAYS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IS A MUST

Peter Kneffel

The German champions fell in the quarter-finals of last season's competition, and the club's new sporting director wants to see more this year

New Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic says the club must win the Champions League in 2017-18.

The German giants last won Europe's premier club competition in 2013, and have watched Real Madrid win three of the subsequent four Champions League titles. 

Though Bayern have won the last five Bundesliga crowns, Salihamidzic believes that the Bavarians must set their sights higher in the upcoming season. 

"[The Champions League] is really the target that we have to reach," Salihamidzic told Goal in an interview before he was presented as Bayern's sporting director.

"Real Madrid had a great performance in the Champions League in the last four years. They won it three times. That is for us a big thing to do."

Salihamidzic won six Bundesliga titles with Bayern during his playing career and was confirmed as the club's new sporting director on Monday.

The Bavarians have enjoyed a recent run of domestic dominance and while Salihamidzic is hoping for a sixth league title in a row, he also knows that a healthy challenge from the likes of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund would indicate the German league is in a good place. 

"We don’t want to have a boring Bundesliga," Salihamidzic said. "Yes, it’s good for Bayern Munich to have a strong Dortmund, [a] strong Leipzig.

"In the end we want to win the Bundesliga, we want to be the champion. But for the fans and for all of us, it’s better if we see tight games, we see good games against teams like that. 

"I am happy to see Leipzig or Dortmund with good players and with good performances. Let’s see what happens."