Mario Gotze has said that the Bayern Munich squad are still some way off full fitness ahead of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign.
The German champions progressed to the next round of the DFB-Pokal Cup courtesy of a 4-1 win over Preussen Munster yesterday, in which Gotze netted the opening goal.
However, a large portion of the Bayern side won the World Cup with Germany and subsequently arrived back at the club much later than players of other nationalities, and Gotze believes that it will take a while longer for the German contingent to regain full fitness.
"We can be relatively pleased," the attacking midfielder told the club's official website.
"The early 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."
Gotze came on as a substitute in the World Cup final and netted the winning goal in Germany's 1-0 triumph over Argentina seven minutes from the end of injury time.