Germany coach Joachim Loew is concerned the presence of Bayern
Munich and Hamburg in the latter stages of Europe's two major club
competitions could hamper the country's World Cup campaign.
Bayern have made it through to the semi-finals of the
Champions League, where they will play Lyon, while Hamburg meet
Fulham in the last four of the Europa League.
Should either club progress to the next stage, it will mean
their players won't be free to join up with the Germany squad until
mid to late May, meaning they will miss the first warm-up game
against Malta on May 13.
"The later I have all the players, the more difficult it will
be to bring them to a similar level as they will need individual
training," Loew told the Bild newspaper.
"But the Bayern and Hamburg players will still be getting
intense training (with their clubs) as no-one wants to drop off.
"It is problematic that eight to 10 players will be missing
at the start of our World Cup preparations.
"In the weeks leading up to the World Cup, we need to be
flexible. We will have to perform a balancing act to see which
players need to do more and which ones need to do less."
The Malta game will also come too early for players from
Werder Bremen, who meet Bayern in the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin on
May 15.
"I know I will have problems for the Malta match," he added.
"But it was to be expected that Bayern or Bremen, or maybe
even both, would reach the final."
Loew is not concerned, however, that some of his squad are
not firing on all cylinders currently.
He added: "I think of (Bastian) Schweinsteiger in 2006 or
(Lukas) Podolski in 2008 who were not in top form. But they went on
to have strong tournaments.
"I am not worried but the situation is potentially serious.
Our task is to get the players in top form in a short space of
time."
Loew played down concerns over captain Michael Ballack, who
has lost his place in the Chelsea side in recent weeks.
"Michael told me has had a cold and then a problem with his
Achilles tendon, so he could only train irregularly," he said.
"But he is back now. I don't see a problem with him. We talk
regularly and will fly again to England to visit him."
