Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola said he would "like 1,000 Dantes in my team" after the defender helped the Bundesliga champions to a 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Robert Lewandowski's first-half header against his old club proved the difference, but Guardiola chose to highlight the work of Dante, who was making his third league start in the past two months.
"I can only congratulate my team, especially Dante," Guardiola said. "To him I would like to dedicate the win today. He is an incredibly important player for us. I'd like 1,000 Dantes in my team.
"In the first half it was incredibly difficult, in the second we defended very well, but did not play well."
With injuries sidelining Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Holger Badstuber David Alaba and Javi Martinez, Bayern received a boost by Phillip Lahm making his first start since Novemeber, and Thiago Alcantara returning as a substitute after a year on the sideline.
"I would actually like to have played differently today than we played. But I also have to pay attention to who is available," Guardiola said.
"I would have liked to have more physical strength in midfield. It's not easy to win in Dortmund. They have great quality."
Bayern remained 10 points clear of Wolfsburg at the top of the Bundesliga, and Guardiola is counting down the games until they are crowned champions again.
"We have managed an important step, we have to win four times in order to be champions," he said.
Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp said Bayern deserved to win after taking control early in the match.
"The first 10 minutes were completely fine," Klopp said. "After that it was not so good, we had too few chances.
"Bayern sat deep and played very physically robust, we could not get our way. In the last zone we lacked punch.
"The second half was OK because we had our opportunities but, overall, it was not enough against Bayern. We lacked clarity.
"In many small moments Bayern were better, so they deserved to win."
