Red-hot Ribery hoping for Bayern contract extension

BERLIN - He did it again.

Franck Ribery led Bayern Munich to another Bundesliga win on Saturday, scoring twice in a 3-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt to help the Bavarian giant go second.

The French veteran, who scored Bayern's winner over RB Leipzig on Wednesday, broke the deadlock in the 35th minute in Frankfurt, then sealed the win.

Ribery is hopeful his recent displays will encourage Bayern bosses to extend his contract at the end of the season.

"I work hard, I've had no injuries. I hope it's the same for next season. I'm enjoying it, it's fun," the 35-year-old said. "We work well together. We have five months together. Who knows what can happen?"

Bayern stayed six points behind leader Borussia Dortmund in the last round of games before the winter break.

Having joined Bayern in 2007, Ribery made another strong argument for an extension to his contract, which expires in June.

"It's a complicated question to answer - I don't know what will happen next season," the injury-prone Ribery told Sky after Bayern picked up a fifth straight Bundesliga win.

"I am happy to be fit, playing and scoring. I give 100 percent for the team and the club after nearly 12 years here.

"Of course I want to keep playing here."

Ribery has won a joint-record eight Bundesliga titles and the 2013 Champions League in more than 400 appearances with the five-time European champion.

"I love Bayern and Bayern loves me - we have done a lot together," he added.

"There are still five months left and you never know what will happen in life."

Ahead of the four-week winter break, Rafinha scored a late third to lift Bayern one place to second in the table and trim the gap to leader Dortmund back to six points.

On Friday, Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus scored as Dortmund beat third-place Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 to go nine points clear.

"Borussia Dortmund is doing well, but we are only six points behind and I hope we will be champions," added Ribery on Bayern's hopes of winning a seventh straight Bundesliga title.

The Frenchman opened the scoring when Thomas Mueller found Robert Lewandowski in the box and the Poland striker flicked the ball onto Ribery to tap home on 35 minutes.

Ribery struck for the second time when he casually fired in off the post after exchanging passes with Joshua Kimmich on 79 minutes.

This was another polished display from Bayern which has recovered from a poor spell after dropping as low as sixth in the table in October.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge gave an awkward answer when asked about the chances of Ribery being offered an extension.

"Franck has already joked in the dressing room that he wants an extension," said Rummenigge, who then dodged a direct question about Ribery's future.

"I have always said there are only good players and not-so-good players and if he continues to play like that," Rummenigge continued, without finishing his sentence.

Earlier, Leipzig's Portuguese winger Bruma came off the bench to score a dramatic late winner in a 3-2 home victory over Werder Bremen and keep his fourth-place side in touch with the pacesetters.

AP / AFP