With such an important series against Real Madrid on the horizon, Bayern will treat its commitments in the local league as a "warm-up" to reach peak condition for the quarterfinals.
Confident that it will conquer the Bundesliga again, Bayern Munich can use the German league as a tune-up for its Champions League clash against Real Madrid, with the first leg scheduled for April 8 in the Spanish capital.
The Bavarian giant has a nine-point lead over its nearest domestic rival and has lost only once all season, with eight matchdays left.
Union Berlin visits Bayern on Saturday, before the reigning champion visits Freiburg before its trip to face Madrid for the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Bayern will visit St. Pauli in Hamburg before hosting Madrid in the second leg on April 15.
"These are the games you look forward to," Bayern board member for sports Max Eberl said Wednesday after the comfortable victory against Atalanta.
The competitive action is far from the top in the Bundesliga, where four teams are chasing the last two Champions League qualification places, and a group of teams is fighting for survival.
Hoffenheim visits Leipzig on Friday for a duel that tests its Champions League credentials. Hoffenheim is surprising many in third place (50 points), ahead of Stuttgart on goal difference, and with three points more than Leipzig, which is fighting to finish in the top four to qualify for the main European competition.
Hoffenheim has won only one of its last four games, allowing its rivals to close in, while Leipzig lost in Stuttgart last weekend.
Bayer Leverkusen (45), the other team fighting for a ticket to the top European competition, visits Heidenheim, which seems doomed to relegation. Borussia Dortmund, second with 58 points, also hosts promoted Hamburger on Saturday.
Cologne hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday in a high-voltage Rhine derby, with both teams still in danger of relegation. Cologne has gone six games without a win, and Gladbach has two wins in its last three. Wolfsburg hosts Werder Bremen in a duel to avoid relegation on Saturday.
Harry Kane returned from an injury and marked his comeback with two goals in Bayern's 4-1 victory over Atalanta on Wednesday. The English star has 30 goals in the Bundesliga and has set his sights on Robert Lewandowski's season record of 41.
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