Ralph Hasenhuttl says any team hoping to become Bundesliga champions are relying on Bayern Munich to make mistakes and believes it will be a "sensational" season if RB Leipzig finish second.
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Leipzig have been the surprise package all season in Germany's top flight and were challenging powerhouses Bayern until Carlo Ancelotti's men pulled clear after the mid-season break.
A 6-0 drubbing of Wolfsburg this month secured a fifth consecutive league title for Bayern. And Leipzig head coach Hasenhuttl is well aware of the scale of task that Leipzig and the rest of the Bundesliga face in attempting to overthrow the perennial giant.
"Hopefully we solidify our place near the top of the table, but to be champions in Germany you have to hope that the best team, Bayern Munich, make mistakes," he told Omnisport.
"But Bayern have not done this recently. So for teams like Borussia Dortmund, in the last few years it's been a hard nut to crack.
"For us it is so much more difficult to be champions. If we could be runner-up this season, it would be a sensational campaign and we are proud of what we have done this year regardless."
Leipzig's rise in the Bundesliga has come about through shrewd business in the transfer market and a desire to develop young talent within the squad.
And Hasenhuttl says this is the only approach Leipzig, who host Bayern on Saturday knowing a point will secure a runners-up berth, can take to compete.
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"In Germany there are so many clubs who have much more options and possibilities than we have," he added.
"We have to go a humbler way. Our way is to develop players and not to buy finished stars. We have a team for the future with so many players with a lot of potential.
"How successful we will be with this team, I can't answer that question at this moment in time."