The Germany international believes his side have work to do before the new Bundesliga season gets underway, with many players not 100 per cent recovered from Brazil 2014
Bayern Munich attacker Mario Gotze has admitted that his side are still not fully fit after their exploits in the World Cup this summer.
Several members of Pep Guardiola’s squad were involved in Brazil 2014 as Germany won the competition for the fourth time, while Arjen Robben starred for Netherlands, who finished third.
Just over a month on, Gotze, who netted his country’s winner in the final, is still looking to build up his fitness before Bayern’s Bundesliga campaign kicks off against Wolfsburg on Friday.
“We can be relatively pleased,” he told the club’s official website after a 4-1 victory over Preussen Munster in the DFB-Pokal.
“The eary goal was important. What mattered today was making the next round. We’ve reached a good level, but we know that we still have work to do on our fitness.”
Philipp Lahm echoed his team-mate’s belief that Pep Guardiola’s men are not yet in peak physical condition but was still delighted to progress in the Pokal.
“We were determined to make the next round,” the captain explained. “We’re obviously not at 100 percent yet, but we need matches to get there.”