Bayern's Nagelsmann urges full focus which also helps for World Cup

Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann has told his World Cup bound players to give their all in their final Bundesliga game at bottom club Schalke on Saturday because the right focus would also help them prevent injuries.

Bayern enter the last game before the two-month World Cup and winter break four points clear at the top of the table and are determined to keep this advantage with full points.

Led by seven of their players in the German squad, many Bayern players will be at the November 20-December 18 tournament in Qatar.

Nagelsmann said on Friday that his men should not consider only a half-hearted effort because that could turn against them and hurt the club.

"Keeping the focus and greed high in the Bundesliga also helps in the preparation for the World Cup. Not to mention preventing injuries, playing the games with 100% tension," Nagelsmann said.

"That makes sense for us and for the players, who want to be ready for the World Cup and be successful there.

"Of course the mental situation is not easy, but it is like that for many teams. There is a lot of research that if you go into the game with the necessary tension you also have a lower risk of injury."

Nagelsmann admitted that an injury can always happen, as seen with their Senegal forward Sadio Mane who suffered a leg injury on Tuesday and whose World Cup participation is in doubt although he has been picked for the African champions.

Nagelsmann did not want to say whether Mane can play in Qatar, with further checks planned. But he warned that "if he's in pain, he can't play. Health is above football."

Mane will miss Saturday's along with two other World Cup players, Canada full-back Alphonso Davies and Germany forward Thomas Müller.

Defender Matthijs de Ligt is back from knee problems is to get some minutes before joing the Dutch World Cup squad.

Nagelsmann said he wants to end the first part of the season on a high after a difficult start which included four league games without victory.

"It has been a turbulent six months. We want to beat Schalke tomorrow, then we'll have done a good job in all competitions. Not a perfect job, but a good job," Nagelsmann said.

The coach warned that Schalke have improved under their new coach Thomas Reis and bagged a second season victory in mid-week against Mainz.

"Schalke are now much more active out of possession and from my perspective, they are coming into form at the wrong time. It will be tough," he said.

Reis, who beat Bayern 4-2 last season while in charge at Bochum, said that facing the 10-time reigning champions Bayern was "a big task but you must have the courage to play football."

Schalke have not beaten Bayern in a dozen years and shipped 20 goals in their last four league defeats against them.