Leon Goretzka on Bayern’s past, present and Jamal Musiala

Leon Goretzka is better placed than most to talk about winning trophies and succeeding in the UEFA Champions League. The Bayern midfielder claimed European club football’s biggest prize in 2020 and can boast four Bundesliga titles, two German Cups and a UEFA Super Cup to his name as well.

As he approaches the business end of his fifth season with the German champions, the 28-year-old looks back on his time at the club, the pick of his achievements, how the Champions League still captures his imagination and why team-mate Jamal Musiala is destined for greatness.

On how successful his five seasons at Bayern have been
I would say it’s been extremely successful. I didn’t have much trouble starting, so even in my first season, I was very pleased. I think that, even with the successful years since then, looking at the statistics, that was almost my best year. Then the season with Hansi Flick [2019/20] was the highlight of my career at Bayern, winning six trophies in one year. You can’t win any more at a football club. This is the reason I moved here: to live in this atmosphere, play with this pressure and win those titles.

After five years, I can say that I love it here and I am very proud to play for this club. I’ve grown with the club, professionally and personally, in terms of my thinking and the way I go into games. This ‘Mia san Mia’ attitude that is talked about a lot and well known worldwide was something I adopted really quickly, and it’s something that I want to take into every game.

On playing in the Champions League
The Champions League anthem is the best thing there is. You can’t listen to it enough. Every time you get goosebumps. When I listened to it as a child I always imagined standing there on the pitch, waving at the fans in the stadium before kick-off. It’s a dream come true that this is actually happening. The Champions League is simply unique. In the days before a match, you train with the Champions League ball and, at some point, you start to say to yourself “There’s a Champions League night coming.” It’s really special, some kind of magic. You can’t compare it to other competitions.

On Bayern’s performances in the Champions League this season
If you look at the results so far, we have been very dominant this season. I think a lot of people in Germany gasped when they first saw our group. It was called the group of death with Milan, Barcelona and Bayern. It was clear one of those three big clubs would have to exit the competition at the group stage but we were sure it wasn’t going to be us, and we went into it with this attitude. In the end, we came through the group stage very confidently.

If you look at the matches, then it has to be said there were one or two awkward moments. In particular the first half against Barcelona, we have to admit we were lucky there not to fall behind, and if we had lost the situation would have been very different. However, it’s obvious when playing such teams that you’re not always going to be in control for 90 minutes, so we can be very pleased about what we did.

On what it means to win the Champions League
It’s certainly the Everest of club football. I won’t ever forget how, in the 92nd minute [of the 2020 final], we had a throw-in at the back on the left and I didn’t think the referee was going to blow his whistle at that moment. I was sure there were still two minutes to play against Paris but then he blew up and it was like a film, everything happened in front of me. It was like being a child again when the anthem came on and you dreamt about playing in such a game someday. All of a sudden you’d won it and that was my greatest success to date.

On team-mate Jamal Musiala
Jamal might be one of the biggest talents Germany has ever had because he’s already able to constantly deliver good performances. He doesn’t have many ups and downs. The fact that he’s already in our starting XI every week shows that. He helps us achieve our goals. He’s extremely good on the ball, in narrow spaces, and he creates a lot of danger. He has outstanding qualities. If he keeps working like that and stays fit, the sky’s the limit for him.

It’s my task to help younger players and to serve as an example. Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben were the players who helped me when I came to Bayern. So I see it as my task. I won’t tell him how to dribble or what to do every day, because he knows best what to do, but I want to help him on the pitch, give him that strength or be there for him when he has a question, and help him in situations he doesn’t know about yet, like all the media things that can be expected of him in the future. All of us in the team want to help him.