Goretzka previews ‘clash of giants’ with Real

Leon Goretzka has made 71 appearances in the Champions League and will now bring that experience to bear in the quarter-final matches against Real Madrid. The 31-year-old has faced Los Blancos three times in Europe’s top club competition and, in an interview with fcbayern.com, recalls the standing ovation he received at the Bernabéu and the “nightmare” away fixture that still lingers.

Goretzka arrived relaxed for the interview, one week before the pivotal tie that will mark his final matches against Real Madrid before leaving Bayern in the summer. “In the winter, I made a conscious decision to stay here until the summer. I feel that anything really is possible this season,” he said. Bayern are in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, lead the Bundesliga, and now aim to secure a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

The secret behind Bayern’s success this season, according to Goretzka, is simple: “The right players are in the right place, with the right coach, at the right club. I‘m absolutely convinced that we can win everything this year – even though I know how difficult that is. But we’ll give it a try.”

Goretzka’s first visit to the Bernabéu came in March 2015 with Schalke, when the Royal Blues won 4-3 against the defending champions. “Back then with Schalke, we were just one goal short of going through. Benedikt Höwedes had a huge chance in stoppage time. That was the match in which Leroy Sané really made his mark for the first time. Although it didn’t quite work out, it’s a very fond memory because we received a standing ovation from the Bernabéu at the end,” he recalled.

Under Thomas Tuchel, Goretzka experienced a “nightmare” in Madrid, when Bayern thought they were already in the final, only for substitute Joselu to score twice in the closing minutes and knock them out. Now, two years later, Bayern return to the Bernábeu looking to reverse recent history. “We haven’t had much success against Real recently. We’d very much like to turn around the statistics from recent years,” Goretzka added.

Bayern have failed to win any of their last eight Champions League matches against the 15-time European champions, yet every game has been extremely close. “To a German, Real Madrid always sounds like the Champions League. They are the champions in this competition and have been the dominant team over the past 10 to 15 years. These are two giants of European football going head to head,” Goretzka enthuses.

Real Madrid arrive in transition, with former player Álvaro Arbeloa taking over as coach in January after Xabi Alonso. Despite battling Barcelona for La Liga and ousting Manchester City 5-1 in the round of 16, Los Blancos have shown vulnerability. “They’re a world-class side with outstanding individual quality on the pitch. They’ve had some very, very good – but also some bad – moments this season. At the moment, you never really know what you’ll get from them,” Goretzka analyzed. “Experience tells us that they usually manage to pull something off in the Champions League. But we’ll be prepared for that.”

Bayern will need to deliver a top performance twice against Real, and Goretzka’s enthusiasm, confidence, and focus already exuded a week ahead of the European showdown.