Loew: European club success beneficial

With a record seven Bundesliga teams in the knock-out stages of either the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League, Germany's European success can only help the national side, boss Joachim Loew has said. "It has always been my wish that we would have more teams in the knock-out stages than just Bayern Munich," Germany's head coach Loew said in Berlin on Thursday. "For the players, it is very important to gather these experiences. It's a good basis for next year." For the first time, seven German clubs will be involved when the knock-out phase of both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League are drawn at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday 20 December. Next Thursday, the Bundesliga trio of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 will discover their UEFA Champions League last 16 opponents after all three finished top of their groups. And Bayer Leverkusen, Hanover 96, VFB Stuttgart and Borussia Moenchengladbach will go into the hat when the Round of 32 draw for the UEFA Europa League is made the same day. The German national team is top of their qualifying group for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil with a three-point lead over second-placed Sweden, who have a game in hand. Germany play their first international of 2013 against France in Paris on February 6 in a friendly, then take on Kazakhstan in home and away FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers in March.