Kroos talks up Champions League hopes

Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos believes his side can win the UEFA Champions League.

Bayern face FC Basel in the last 16 next month, while the final takes place in Munich’s own Allianz Arena in May.

The Bavarian giants are y recuperating in Dubai during the winter break, as they look to challenge for a 23rd national title in the second half of the season.

“Talking about the Champions League, you can’t go ‘we will win the title’,” Kroos said.

“Of course it’s great that the final will take place in Munich. But I think you can’t look beyond the next round. We know who we’ll play in that stage.”

“If we play two good matches we’ll get to the next round.”

“Apart from that there are enough top teams who could also say ‘we want to win the Champions League’.”

“Nevertheless, we are confident that we can go far in the competition, you can’t exactly plan to win it though.”

Meanwhile, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger continues to recover from a broken collarbone.

“He (Schweinsteiger) doesn’t feel any pain, but he hasn’t played for a long time,” Heynckes said.

“Now he has to train properly in terms of being more competitive and losing the fear of going into headers.”

“Even before the winter break he had taken part in the training sessions many times, so he didn’t miss out on the tactical part of the training where he didn’t have to go into tackles on the pitch.”

“I think he will get used to the match action slowly but surely.”

Bayern return to Bundesliga action on January 20 when they face a tricky trip to fellow title contenders Borussia Moenchengladbach.