Mueller praises Lewandowski as ideal strike partner

Euro quest

With a seven-point lead over nearest rival Borussia Dortmund with five games remaining, only a spectacular collapse would deny Bayern a record-extending 30th German top-flight title.

However, the team's potential route to a sixth European Cup/Champions League crown is more daunting.

UEFA is reportedly mulling an August resumption for Europe's premier club competition, so with the Bundesliga due to finish on June 27, that would leave Bayern facing another break in action which could potentially disrupt the team's momentum.

In contrast, Bayern's last-16 opponent Chelsea would still be competing domestically, at least according to the English Premier League's provisional June 17 restart date.

"Having to deal with a break is far from ideal, and I am a little skeptical," said Mueller, whose team leads Chelsea 3-0 from February's first-leg match. "But there is no time to complain. We have to take things as they come as we still intend to win the thing."

Assuming Bayern finishes off Frank Lampard's Blues in Munich, tougher tests could await against Spanish or Italian opposition, and Mueller admits he is interested to see how the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus perform when La Liga and Serie A resume later this month. "First of all, we have to see how the teams come out of the corona break," he said.

Just like current Bundesliga matches, the Chelsea game would almost certainly be played behind closed doors－a concept Mueller admits he is not overly keen on. "You don't get emotional reactions from the stands, and you have to change your celebrations after a goal," he said.

"This is not the situation we want, but we are happy to play again. I hope that we can return to games with fans as soon as possible."

Mueller likens the atmosphere at Germany's spectator-less stadiums these days to amateur soccer. "They come to the pitch and start right away without much around," he said.