Bundesliga head: Bayern's domination threatens league reputation

Berlin - Bayern Munich's domination threatens the Bundesliga's reputation and its rivals must show more ambition in order to close the gap, the German Football League (DFL) boss has warned.

Bayern's 1-0 win at Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday left the reigning German champion 13 points clear of second-placed RB Leipzig with just nine games left.

Barring an unlikely collapse it is just a matter of time before a fifth consecutive league title caps coach Carlo Ancelotti's first season in charge.

"We are addicted to the feeling of winning, we are greedy and want to continue on our path," Thomas Muller said after hitting Bayern's winner in Gladbach.

That worries Christian Seifert, the CEO of the DFL, who is trying to promote the league abroad.

"It is clear, and you can not blame Munich for this, but if FC Bayern are champions a few more times in a row that would not be very conducive to the perception of the competition abroad," Seifert told magazine Kicker.

"In England, at the start of the season five clubs set themselves the goal of winning the title. In Italy, it's three. In Spain, it's two.

"In Germany, none of the 17 clubs talk about giving chase (to Bayern) and that has to change at some point."

In January, Seifert similarly addressed Bayern Munich's stranglehold on the German league, warning that the growth off the pitch of the Bundesliga would be in jeopardy if Bayern's trophy haul continues to gather pace.

Borussia Dortmund, the last team other than Bayern to win the league, back in 2012, is currently third and 16 points off the leader.

With Leipzig's challenge imploding in recent weeks Bayern looks set to storm away with the league title once again.

The Bavarians are also in the Champions League quarter-finals, having drawn Real Madrid in the tie of the round, and in the German Cup semi-finals, putting the club on course to repeat its 2013 treble.

For the last 30 years, Bayern - Germany's richest club and with a €54-million ($58M) profit in the 2015-16 season - has hoovered up the best new talent in Germany, weakening its rivals in the process.

Ominously, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the Bundesliga's gap between rich and poor will only grow.

"The scissors cutting the gap between the rich and poor don't work anymore," he said.

"Since the Bosman ruling (when players can leave their club for free when their contracts run out), the gap has grown wider.

"One should not be so naive to believe that at some point you don't need so much money in club football.

"You need it to buy players with the quality like we have in our squad."