Borussia Monchengladbach defender Alvaro Dominguez has set his sights on remaining in third place for the rest of the Bundesliga season.

Gladbach will restart their campaign a day earlier than most as they host runaway league leaders Bayern Munich on Friday, and Dominguez believes that his side can challenge the champions, who have dropped just four points so far.

"We're ready for Bayern. Our team has worked hard at the training camps in Belek and Gladbach. We're third after all and want to put up a real fight at home against Bayern. We've got good players and want to keep playing well," Dominguez told the league's official website.

"The second half of the season will be difficult. The first half was hard, but we managed to finish the year in third place. Now we want to stay third until the end of the second round [of matches].

"Wolfsburg already have a good team and have just become even stronger. You saw how well they played in their last game against us. Dortmund will improve - we all know their qualities. Even Schalke will be fighting for the Champions League places. It's going to be exciting."

Gladbach are currently one point above Dortmund in the Bundesliga table, while three points separate them from fifth-placed Wolfsburg.