The excitement is building! On Friday evening, FC Bayern open the new Bundesliga season with a cracker of a match away to Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. After several personnel changes in Munich over the summer, FCB are going into the campaign with the clear aim of winning their 11th consecutive league title. Ahead of the start, Thomas Müller spoke to us about the anticipation for the new season, the new situation in the squad and the special winning feeling.
Interview with Thomas Müller
Thomas, you’re going into your 15th Bundesliga season. Has it become routine or is it still something special when it gets going?
Thomas Müller: “A bit of both. Obviously the processes are practised, I’ve experienced the start of the season many times. It is special, though, particularly in this season. We’ve got a lot of new players. Essentially, we didn’t finish last season in a way that everyone was super happy with, especially given our elimination from the Champions League. Therefore, we‘re certainly carrying an extra pinch of motivation with us. You sense that in the team and around the place. We’re looking forward to getting going, but we also know that we’re under pressure straight away to deliver what we want to show.”
There have been some changes in the team. How do you assess pre-season, how settled is the team?
“We’ve worked well. As to how settled we are, we’ll see in the matches. You saw many sides to us against Leipzig, but the first half especially was very good. I can barely remember us having so much control in a match against such good opponents. That felt really good! In the second half we waned a bit. Overall I have a good feeling.
You formed a compatible duo with Robert Lewandowski in recent years. What’s it like for you personally, playing without him?
“It’s a new situation for the whole team. Lewy was our focal point up front in recent years, who scored 50 goals or more every season. We’ve got good replacements, though, and also different types of player. Our style of play is now perhaps a little different. Even though we probably don’t have that one player who will score 50 goals, I think we can offset that. The others just need to stick the thing in the net more often.”
Friday night, under the floodlights against the Europa League winners in Frankfurt – perfect conditions for the season-opener…
“The anticipation for the Bundesliga itself is huge for me. Frankfurt will go into this match on a high, the team as well as the fans. It should be a great setting. We as players are then responsible for ensuring top quality on the pitch too.”
An 11th consecutive league title is possible this season. Where do you keep getting this hunger for success again and again?
“It’s about constantly getting that winning feeling back. Now we need another dose. The whole club sets the direction of travel. We want to keep setting the pace in Germany - that’s a huge aim.”
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