Claudio Pizarro will return to Munich as a good friend of FC Bayern, but for 90 minutes he will also be an opponent. Is this a conflict? “On the one hand it's an important game for us. We're in a difficult situation and want to take points,” Pizarro said in an interview with club journal Bayern-Magazin before FC Bayern cross swords with Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena on Saturday at 18.30 CET. “On the other hand I'm looking forward to the reunion with my former team-mates and the fans at the Allianz Arena. It's going to be an emotional game for me.”
The North-South classic will also be an attractive match from a sporting point of view. After consecutive 4-1 victories away to Leverkusen and at home to Hannover the visitors travel to Bavaria with lots of confidence. Despite all the respect and shared memories, “we aim to take something from the game in Munich,” Pizarro added. The 37-year-old believes the men from the north will be fired up and promised his ex-team-mates – he is still in contact with many of them – a stiff fight: “We're on a good run.”
'I'm feeling very good'
That is especially true of the Peruvian himself. He has scored nine goals since the winter break, most recently netting five in only eight days. His hat-trick in Leverkusen made him the oldest player to boast a three-goal haul in the Bundesliga. Pizarro is “proud of it. At the beginning of my career I wouldn't have expected to break a record some day. It's something special for me every time.”
Pizarro scored 87 Bundesliga goals for FC Bayern. On Saturday he passed a milestone as he scored his 100th league goal for Werder Bremen. With another goal he would overtake former Germany international Marco Bode as Werder's all-time Bundesliga top scorer. “I think I'll make it,” and if not in the current campaign, why not in the next one? The Peruvian is not yet entertaining the idea of finishing his career: “I'm feeling very good at the moment. I've always said that I want to play football as long as my body allows it.”
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