Any 19-year-old at Bayern whose record for the season shows 30 Bundesliga appearances, ten in the Champions League and five in the DFB Cup has had an outstanding campaign. David Alaba is an authentic shooting star, with confirmed regular status in Jupp Heynckes’ team, and a place in the Bayern fans’ hearts. “I never thought it would go as well as this," the Austrian international confessed to fcbayern.de. Alaba is now determined to finish the campaign with a trophy. He is suspended for the Champions League final on 19 May, which makes him even more determined to succeed against Dortmund this Saturday: “I'm unbelievably fired up," he declared.
Interview: David Alaba
fcbayern.de: David, just days to go until the first final…
David Alaba: Yes! The whole team and of course myself, we're unbelievably fired up for Saturday. Playing in a final like this is a dream come true for me.
You have a few days of training still to go. Are you working hard?
If we keep training like this we'll be perfectly prepared for the cup final. There's real energy and its incredible fun.
The fans are really looking forward to the finals as well. Do you sense a special atmosphere in the city?
Definitely, just look at how many fans turned up to watch training today. The fans are right behind us, and we want to repay them with excellent performances in the finals against Dortmund and Chelsea.
Dortmund are first up on Saturday. Are you optimistic?
All our hard work is aimed at winning the match. We've invested a huge amount this season to make it as far as the final, and now we want the cup. It'll be an exciting match.
Turning to the Champions League final, are you over the initial shock at knowing you can't play?
I'm trying not to get worked up about it, concentrating on Dortmund instead. Everything else comes after that. Obviously, I'm still a little bit disappointed, and maybe it's not completely sunk in yet. But I'll support the lads to the best of my ability and cheer them on from the stands.
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