'Ronaldo or Messi? We have Lewan-goal-ski!'

"Servus!" ("I'm at your service!") Thomas Mueller affably greeted Xinhua ahead of a recent interview. It was hardly surprising to see the Bayern Munich and Germany great in such good spirits.

Mueller is on the cusp of a ninth Bundesliga title following his team's perfect start to the league's resumption, and, with Robert Lewandowski firing on all cylinders, is confident Bayern can add Champions League and German Cup glory to its trophy cabinet in a repeat of the Bavarian giant's 2013 treble.

Polish striker Lewandowski has hit the ground running following the Bundesliga's restart last month, with his brace in last weekend's 5-0 thrashing of Fortuna Dusseldorf taking his tally to 29 in 27 league appearances to top Europe's Golden Shoe standings.

Asked about who he would most like to play alongside－Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?－Mueller plumped for someone closer to home: "If you ask me about the ideal partner, I tell you－we have got Robert Lewan-goal-ski! He is the best striker I could think of."

The move which ended in Lewandowski's first strike at Fortuna on Saturday was a masterclass in fluid one-touch soccer and perfectly highlighted his understanding with Mueller－Bayern's selfanointed "Raumdeuter" (space interpreter).

"I am more efficient in the middle," Mueller said of his unselfish work as an expert assist provider behind target man Lewandowski. "The distance to the goal is much shorter as I am always on the hunt."

Elaborating on his metamorphosis in the No 10 role, Mueller told Goal.com: "Maybe in my past years I would like to play with Leo Messi, because in the first six or seven years of my career, I was more the receiving striker. I got the ball in the box and tried to score.

"In the moment right now, in my very good shape at the moment, I assist many goals. Maybe now I need more a Cristiano Ronaldo to score the goals, but we at Bayern have Robert Lewan-goal-ski. I think maybe right now he is the better option than Cristiano."

Euro quest

With a seven-point lead over nearest rival Borussia Dortmund with five games remaining, only a spectacular collapse would deny Bayern a record-extending 30th German top-flight title.

However, the team's potential route to a sixth European Cup/Champions League crown is more daunting.

UEFA is reportedly mulling an August resumption for Europe's premier club competition, so with the Bundesliga due to finish on June 27, that would leave Bayern facing another break in action which could potentially disrupt the team's momentum.

In contrast, Bayern's last-16 opponent Chelsea would still be competing domestically, at least according to the English Premier League's provisional June 17 restart date.

"Having to deal with a break is far from ideal, and I am a little skeptical," said Mueller, whose team leads Chelsea 3-0 from February's first-leg match. "But there is no time to complain. We have to take things as they come as we still intend to win the thing."

Assuming Bayern finishes off Frank Lampard's Blues in Munich, tougher tests could await against Spanish or Italian opposition, and Mueller admits he is interested to see how the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus perform when La Liga and Serie A resume later this month. "First of all, we have to see how the teams come out of the corona break," he said.

Just like current Bundesliga matches, the Chelsea game would almost certainly be played behind closed doors－a concept Mueller admits he is not overly keen on. "You don't get emotional reactions from the stands, and you have to change your celebrations after a goal," he said.

"This is not the situation we want, but we are happy to play again. I hope that we can return to games with fans as soon as possible."

Mueller likens the atmosphere at Germany's spectator-less stadiums these days to amateur soccer. "They come to the pitch and start right away without much around," he said.

Hailing Hansi

Having often found himself benched during the ill-fated reign of former Bayern coach Niko Kovac, Mueller has been revitalized under new boss Hansi Flick, who has adopted a more direct style since being installed last November.

"We right away attack the opponent," said Mueller. "Most opponents aren't well organized in these moments. It's a game of high intensity."

Speaking of Flick's tenure, Mueller said: "I am very impressed with how he manages things."

Despite having spent his entire professional career at Bayern, Mueller admits he still feels the pressure of the intense media glare at the club.

"Not all media are your friend. You have to face the pressure, always having to deliver," he said."Only when you deliver you have a nice time, especially with a big club like Bayern."

Mueller's longevity at Bayern, where he made his first-team debut in 2008, is all the more remarkable considering we live in an era when one-club players are becoming rarer by the season.

"You have to convince the club that you can help reach the goals," he said of his continuing importance to the team.

Meanwhile, Mueller says sports can be a force to unite people amid the protests against the alleged murder by Minneapolis police of unarmed black man George Floyd.

A number of Bundesliga players displayed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement during games, with Dortmund's Jadon Sancho unveiling a 'Justice for George Floyd' message on his shirt as he celebrated a goal.

"The signal must be: It doesn't matter how you look like or how you speak," said Mueller. "Respect for others must be a vital message of all kinds of sports."

Xinhua - China Daily