THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Bayern's success to hamper Germany's EURO ambitions

Joachim Löw

German giants FC Bayern Munich advanced to the UEFA Champions League final with an impressive win against Real Madrid last week. The victory was received with lots of joy and happiness in Germany, but one man will be having sleepless nights: Germany coach Joachim Loew.

Bayern’s success in Europe’s top flight of club football will be hampering the preparations of the German national team for the EURO 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine. Loew will be preparing his team at two camps scheduled to take place in Sardinia (May 11 to 18) and France (May 18 to 30).

The German squad is expected to feature at least eight Bayern players. The Bayern stars will be playing the German Cup final on May 12 against Borussia Dortmund, the UEFA Champions League final against Chelsea FC on May 19 and a friendly match against the Dutch national team, before they join the German squad on May 25.

Loew will be having only one preparation match prior to the European Championship with a full strength squad to find his starting eleven, when Germany face Israel on May 31.

“Three and a half weeks of preparation with the full squad would have been ideal,” said Loew. “But I need to adapt to the given situation in my position as a national coach.”

The German coach is hoping that Bayern will win the UEFA Champions League final and join his team with a lot of self-confidence.

“The Bayern players played the Champions League final in 2010, before they joined our World Cup squad. They performed well in South Africa, despite joining our squad late. I hope things will be the same this time and a success in the final would be even better for us,” Loew added.

Talking about the upcoming final and Bayern’s chances against Chelsea, Loew told: “It won’t be a one-sided affair in the final. Everything is possible. Chelsea is a dangerous team and they have beaten Barcelona in the semis. But Bayern has a good chance to win the title, if they perform like they did against Real.”

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