Dante: Bayern players should have helped Guardiola

The Brazilian feels there was no help for Guardiola in settling into the German culture and highlighted Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski as threats in the DFB-Pokal final

Bayern Munich defender Dante has spoken of his regret that the squad didn't help coach Pep Guardiola adapt to life in Germany.

The Bavarian giants won the Bundesliga in record time in the Spaniard's first season in charge but suffered a loss of momentum afterwards as they lost 3-0 at home to rivals Borussia Dortmund before their Champions League semi-final humiliation at the hands of Real Madrid.

While they can secure a domestic double if they beat Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal final on Saturday, the failure to retain the European crown sticks out as a real disappointment for the club who won it all last season.

And Dante says the players should have done more to help Guardiola settle in at the Allianz Arena and spoke of his side's decline towards the end of the campaign.

"He doesn't know the German culture," the Brazilian told reporters. "The demand is every day bam, bam, bam. We should have been helping him.

"Maybe we concentrated too much on the Champions League. Last year, we also won the title early in the season and nevertheless kept the tension high. That is not a mistake form Pep but from our team."

The 30-year-old turned his attention to Saturday's meeting with Jurgen Klopp's side, reflecting on the defeat Dortmund inflicted on them earlier this year.

"That was a bad situation. We kicked [Manchester] United out [of the Champions League], didn't do anything on Thursday and on Friday we spoke only about the Champions League draw.

"Dortmund were hot and they deserved to win. What I see in training today is very good. We are not afraid of the final but respect is always there.

"No matter what happens Saturday we must keep our heads high. We must not bad mouth everything in that case. If we win the cup, it is a very good season if not, then not. I am no diplomat there."

The centre-back highlighted Dortmund stars Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski as particular threats in the cup final.

"I am a fan of Marco. I once told him he will achieve everything if he continues and he did it. He is a different type of player like the ones we have. I would like to play together with him at some time.

"[Robert] is a world class forward, no question. But we also have to look out for Reus, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang."