Mats Hummels doesn’t think Bayern Munich can win the Champions League this year

Despite how impressive Bayern Munich have been since Jupp Heynckes took charge, Mats Hummels feels that his side will have to “get lucky” to have a chance of winning the Champions League this year. Although 17 wins from a total of 18 matches across competitions under Heynckes can hardly have been luck, Hummels believes that Bayern need to sharpen up their play in all departments to have a chance at winning Europe's most prestigious trophy.

Speaking to German television network Nitro (via ESPN), Hummels revealed that he thinks his side doesn’t have what it takes at the moment to oust Europe’s other giants:

The way we have played so far, I don’t believe it is possible to win. Of course, we could get lucky, but I believe we will have to improve in a lot of areas. We must continue to improve if we are to have a chance in Europe, as we are nowhere near where we want to be.

The center-back also hinted that Bayern have a higher risk of succumbing to complacency because of their dominance in the Bundesliga. Hummels suggested that the competitiveness of Europe’s other top leagues keeps the respective leading clubs sharper:

Other leagues are clearly ahead. The Spanish and the English leagues are the strongest. We have to be careful not to slip behind other leagues.

Hummels’ doubts notwithstanding, Bayern’s chances of advancing to the next round of the knockout stages are very favorable, since they drawn against Beskitas, who emerged as the surprise winners of group G. Either Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid will be knocked out in the round of 16, since they drew each other, which leaves Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, AS Roma, and Liverpool as the other remaining seeded teams as potential opponents. There are, however, no seedings for the quarter-finals draw, so Bayern could be drawn against any of the remaining 7 teams at that point, should they advance.