After a rest day on Tuesday, it was obvious the stars were hungry for football on Wednesday. Jupp Heynckes had long headed for the showers, but almost all his players stayed out on the practice ground. Brazilian threesome Luiz Gustavo, Dante and Rafinha played keepy-up with four footballs simultaneously. Toni Kroos and Xherdan Shaqiri worked on free-kick routines. And Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg rained in shots from every conceivable angle at a goal tended for once by the club's top scorer, Mario Mandzukic.
Croatia's player of the year was one of the last men to leave the practice ground, meeting up with fcbayern.de half an hour later for an extensive interview. Mandzu assessed his performance so far this term, mulled over the importance of finishing as the league’s leading scorer, previewed the forthcoming meetings with Düsseldorf and Arsenal, and reflected on another reunion with former club Wolfsburg, this time in the DFB Cup semi-finals.
Interview: Mario Mandzukic
fcbayern.de: Mario, you looked good in goal today. Should Manuel Neuer be worried?
Mario Mandzukic: It's just that I enjoy keeping goal occasionally. And you never know what might happen in a match. If we have a goalkeeping emergency, I'm definitely up got it.
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