The successful season enjoyed so far by both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund promises to give Germany coach Joachim Loew a few selection problems ahead of the two-match tour to the United States later this month.
Germany jet off to the US on May 22 and will play Ecuador in Boca Raton on May 29 before the USA, who are coached by ex-Germany trainer Jurgen Klinsmann, in Washington DC on June 2.
Loew will announce his squad on May 16, but with the German Cup final taking place on June 1, he will definitely be without eight of his first-choice squad from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who face VfB Stuttgart at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium for the cup.
Likewise, Loew will be without six Dortmund stars — Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Mario Goetze, Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender and Ilkay Gundogan – as Dortmund have qualified for the Champions League final on May 25 at London’s Wembley — where they could face Bayern.
Barcelona host Munich in the Champions League semi-final, second leg on Wednesday with the Bavarians holding a 4-0 lead from the first match.
Munich’s stars — Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, Mario Gomez, Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber — will all miss the USA tour due to club duties.
Real Madrid pair Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira will also miss out as the Spanish League only finishes on June 1.
Loew will not be able to promote from Germany’s Under-21 squad, as they will be preparing for the European Championships in Israel from June 5-18.
The national coach has said he is prepared to take a weakened senior side to the USA as it means his first-choice players will be able to have a month’s rest and then six weeks training before the new Bundesliga season starts on August 9, ahead of next year’s World Cup.
“There was always the risk of some players being unavailable,” said Loew.
“Many of the group had only a short break in the last year (after Euro 2012) and had only a short time to train before the season started, so this will allow them to prepare properly.”
Clubs' Euro success weakens Loew's USA plans
