He stood there, rucksack on his back, slightly bemused and disbelieving, but evidently happy. A member of the Bayern media relations team accompanied him on his first official visit to the Mixed Zone at the Allianz Arena, where a knot of reporters wanted to know what it had been like making a Bundesliga debut in front of a boisterous 71,000 full house, side-by-side with internationally experienced stars such as Franck Ribéry, Mario Gomez, Daniel van Buyten and the like. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, still a tender 17 years and 251 days old, took a long and deep breath. And then, with all the innocence of youth, he answered: “To be honest, I was really wetting myself."
The media representatives snorted with laughter, Hojbjerg grinned from ear to ear, and picked up the threads of his answer: “It's unbelievable, a dream. I still can't believe it's true. I keep having to pinch myself." Saturday's match was 71 minutes old when Jupp Heynckes indicated to the talented youth, still eligible for the Under-19s but generally on duty for the FCB reserves this term, that he would replace Xherdan Shaqiri. It meant Pierre-Emile took over from David Alaba, who made his debut at 17 years and 255 days, as the youngest Bundesliga player in Bayern's history.
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