Matthaus: Bayern should be counted among Champions League favourites

Bayern Munich should be considered one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season amid their turnaround under coach Hansi Flick, Lothar Matthaus says.

Flick took over at the helm of the Bundesliga champions as interim manager after Niko Kovac was fired in early-November due to the team's indifferent start to the domestic campaign.

Bayern have won nine and lost two of the first 11 games played under Flick and went on to protect their perfect record in the group stage of this year's Champions League, setting up a second round tie with Chelsea.

Currently on a five-game winning streak, Bayern have convinced former star Matthaus that they are among the top candidates to claim the European crown this term, though he admits the competition will be heavy.

"Behind Liverpool, I also trust five or six teams to win the title - Bayern is one of them," he told Augsburger Allgemeine.

"Liverpool are the ultimate, although I am not sure if the team can hold on to this level until the end.

"If Bayern keep that verve that they now have, you can think of the Champions League title. It is important that players like Robert Lewandowski, who make the difference, are in top shape for when it heats up."

He added: "I think the atmosphere at Bayern is right again. I don't want to be too hard on Niko Kovac because I respect him. But something was wrong. You have heard things that made you suspect that the team was not going along.

"Hansi Flick brought back the Jupp Heynckes feeling and united the team. Bayern are now playing a lot more dominant again, even if they just lost two Bundesliga games [against Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen]. That's why I believe that Hansi Flick is a coach for Bayern - even beyond this season."

Bayern are third in the Bundesliga, four points behind leaders RB Leipzig with Borussia Monchengladbach in second.

And Matthaus expects the title race to be tight until the end of the campaign, though he expects Borussia Dortmund to replace Gladbach as the third challenger.

"But it will remain a tight deal until the end, a three-way battle between Bayern, Leipzig and Dortmund," he said. "The title will only go to one of these three clubs.

"I would also be very happy for Gladbach - I had posters of the club in my room as a child. But I don't think the squad is quite there yet. They never played consistently for a long time in the first half of the season."