Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has conceded that German football is not in the pink of its health following Bayern Munich’s exit from the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Liverpool knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League in the last 16 stage and became the fourth team from the Premier League to reach the last eight of this season’s competition.
However, on the other side of the spectrum, the Bundesliga do not have a single representative in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition this year.
Germany also suffered humiliation in the World Cup last year when they were knocked out in the group stage and have also been relegated in Europe’s fresh competition, the Nations League.
Ballack indicated that it is time to take serious stock of the health of German football and he cannot sit quietly and say nothing about the regression he has been watching over the last year.
The former Germany midfielder told Sky Deutschland: “We were knocked out of the World Cup early, we have been relegated in the Nations League and the Champions League ended for all the German teams in the round of 16.
“It is a sign that everything is not right with us.
“We can’t be polite about these things.”
Schalke were smashed 7-0 by Manchester City on Tuesday night in another new low for a Bundesliga side in the Champions League.
