World Champion Jerome Boateng was out for four months before making his comeback on Saturday in FC Bayern’s 3-0 home victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. He came on for Javi Martinez midway through the second half, having not appeared since November’s 3-2 Champions League defeat in Rostov. At the start of December the 28-year-old underwent surgery on his pectoral muscle. In an interview with DFB.de, the centre back spoke about his difficult time during rehab, the season coming to an end and his colleague Joshua Kimmich.Question: Mr. Boateng, how did your comeback feel?
Jerome Boateng: Pretty good. It’s always a comfortable feeling when you come into the game and the score is 3-0. It’s taken long enough. I hope that I can stay healthy now and help the team.
Question: How did you motivate yourself during this injury break? Did you have a concrete comeback plan in mind?
Boateng: I didn’t pick a specific date, but I obviously motivated myself daily by wanting to return to the pitch as fast as possible. I just want to stay healthy now and get back to my former level.
Question: Who helped you the most during your injury break?
Boateng: My family and of course the physiotherapists and our doctors, who took care of me. Our fitness coach, the surgeon Andreas Schlumberger, they were all really important and did a fantastic job.
Question: Have you noticed any parallels comparing this season with the one in 2013, when you won the treble?
Boateng: I don’t care about that. In the end what matters is how we play, and not what happened back in 2013.
Question: But the team is currently in a similar flow as they were back then and the atmosphere seems quite good as well, wouldn’t you say?
Boateng: That’s true and it’s certainly not a bad sign. But things can change very quickly, especially if you don’t show up in one of the knock-out games.
Question: Are you extra motivated in the Champions League after having faced the exit in the semi-finals the past three seasons?
Boateng: We said the same thing the last two seasons. You have to perform on the pitch, have a good form on the day and you also need some luck. I hope that we can get into the final this year.
Question: Since Bayern have very few injured players currently, your Germany team mate Joshua Kimmich is often finding himself on the bench. How do you see his situation?
Boateng: Joshua is a very positive person, a great player and very important for us. It’s obviously not an easy situation for him right now, but I’m convinced that Joshua will play more again soon. His competition in the team is very strong: At right back you have Philipp Lahm, in central midfielder there are Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal and Thiago Alcántara. But when he plays he always delivers a good performance and in the first half of the season he scored quite a few goals for us. There is nothing to complain about with his performances. He keeps working hard on himself and is treating the situation like a true professional.
created by mmc/fr
World Champion Jerome Boateng was out for four months before making his comeback on Saturday in FC Bayern’s 3-0 home victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. He came on for Javi Martinez midway through the second half, having not appeared since November’s 3-2 Champions League defeat in Rostov. At the start of December the 28-year-old underwent surgery on his pectoral muscle. In an interview with DFB.de, the centre back spoke about his difficult time during rehab, the season coming to an end and his colleague Joshua Kimmich.Question: Mr. Boateng, how did your comeback feel?
Jerome Boateng: Pretty good. It’s always a comfortable feeling when you come into the game and the score is 3-0. It’s taken long enough. I hope that I can stay healthy now and help the team.
Question: How did you motivate yourself during this injury break? Did you have a concrete comeback plan in mind?
Boateng: I didn’t pick a specific date, but I obviously motivated myself daily by wanting to return to the pitch as fast as possible. I just want to stay healthy now and get back to my former level.
Question: Who helped you the most during your injury break?
Boateng: My family and of course the physiotherapists and our doctors, who took care of me. Our fitness coach, the surgeon Andreas Schlumberger, they were all really important and did a fantastic job.
Question: Have you noticed any parallels comparing this season with the one in 2013, when you won the treble?
Boateng: I don’t care about that. In the end what matters is how we play, and not what happened back in 2013.
Question: But the team is currently in a similar flow as they were back then and the atmosphere seems quite good as well, wouldn’t you say?
Boateng: That’s true and it’s certainly not a bad sign. But things can change very quickly, especially if you don’t show up in one of the knock-out games.
Question: Are you extra motivated in the Champions League after having faced the exit in the semi-finals the past three seasons?
Boateng: We said the same thing the last two seasons. You have to perform on the pitch, have a good form on the day and you also need some luck. I hope that we can get into the final this year.
Question: Since Bayern have very few injured players currently, your Germany team mate Joshua Kimmich is often finding himself on the bench. How do you see his situation?
Boateng: Joshua is a very positive person, a great player and very important for us. It’s obviously not an easy situation for him right now, but I’m convinced that Joshua will play more again soon. His competition in the team is very strong: At right back you have Philipp Lahm, in central midfielder there are Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal and Thiago Alcántara. But when he plays he always delivers a good performance and in the first half of the season he scored quite a few goals for us. There is nothing to complain about with his performances. He keeps working hard on himself and is treating the situation like a true professional.
