Franz Beckenbauer believes only the intervention of a meteorite can stop Bayern Munich, 17 points clear at the top of the table with 11 games left, from lifting the Bundesliga title.

GettyImagesFranz Beckenbauer says only a meteorite can halt Bayern's march to the title

• Blog: A clash of German titans

Bayern enjoyed a perfect weekend as a much-weakened side beat Werder Bremen 6-1 while all five teams behind them failed to register wins.

With 23 games gone, 60 points amassed and a goal difference of 55, Bayer's honorary president Beckenbauer wrote in Bild: "The championship can only be taken away from Bayern if a meteorite hits Sabener Straße [Bayern's training ground]."

He also praised the squad's depth, saying: "Take Shaqiri. At the beginning you felt he lacked some match practice, but after a while he played like he'd never been on the bench.

"This team never loses its touch. Although everything was decided at half time [against Bremen], Ribery, Robben and Gomez wanted to score. Seldom have I seen such a hungry Bayern team."

All eyes are now on the cup match against Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena. Bayern have never previously beaten Dortmund six consecutive times in competitive matches, but could achieve that this week.