Carlo Ancelotti is confident Bayern Munich can make an accomplished job of their Bundesliga title defence after seeing off rivals Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup.
Bayern came into the game at Signal Iduna Park on the back of four defeats in their past five friendly outings, including heavy losses to AC Milan and Liverpool.
And they twice found themselves behind in the curtain-raising Klassiker, with Robert Lewandowski cancelling out Christian Pulisic's opener and Roman Burki's unfortunate late own goal meaning Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was unable to call himself the match-winner.
Ancelotti told a post-match news conference preparation had been far from ideal but he expects Bayern's supreme domestic pedigree to show, from next Friday's Bundesliga clash with Bayer Leverkusen onwards.
"Of course the title is important," he said. "I'm pleased. We played with good concentration,"
"Our pre-season hasn't been good but you don't need to worry. When the season starts, we will be there."
Proud of your effort. Enjoy, Champions!!Stolz auf unsere Arbeit und Bemühung. Genießt es Gewinner!! August 5, 2017
Sven Ulreich, deputising for the injured Manuel Neuer, was the hero for Bayern with penalty saves from Sebastian Rode and Marc Bartra.
"We know that preseason hasn't gone as well as we had wanted but we saw the Bayern that everyone wants to see, especially in the first half when we had lots of chances," he told ZDF.
"We should have used these [chances] better and we also conceded two sloppy goals. In the end, we showed great morale, getting the result we wanted. We have to continue in this manner."
Ulreich added: "Of course, I'm pleased to have helped the team in a penalty shootout and win a title."
