Borussia Dortmund started their Champions League campaign in spectacular fashion. Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Legia Warsaw 6-0 and lead Group F ahead of Real Madrid, who beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 with a last-minute winner. Mario Götze played a key role in his side’s win, scoring his first goal since his return to BVB this summer. The 24-year-old spoke to DFB.de about being back to his best.
DFB.de: Mr Götze, the first goal is always important, and you opened the scoring against Legia Warsaw. Do you know when you scored your last goal with your head?
Mario Götze: I don’t know how many headers I have scored, but I’m sure you do. (laughs)
DFB.de: The 6-0 win in Warsaw was Dortmund’s highest ever victory in the Champions League. You played a big part in that, not just because of your early goal. What’s your take on the game?
Götze: It’s great to win a Champions League game 6-0 for the first time. We had to show a good response after playing badly in Leipzig at the weekend. So it was important for us as a team to start well in the Champions League. We managed to do that really well and you could see it from the first minute. It was important that we scored very quickly away from home. That was definitely positive.
DFB.de: Was it particularly special for you to score again for Dortmund exactly 1,250 days after your last goal for the club?
Götze: Of course. The most important thing was that we picked up three points and got off to a positive start in the Champions League. Getting on the scoresheet made it even more special.
DFB.de: You were recently given some game time in the national side in the friendly against Finland and you started the World Cup qualifier in Norway. With BVB you have been in the starting line-up against Leipzig as you were in Warsaw. How are your fitness levels at the moment?
Götze: Right now I need a 3 week break. (laughs) No, being serious, I feel really good and I believe that people can see that on the pitch. I’m feeling great. I just try to do my best and get the maximum out of myself, which is what the coach asks and expects of me.
DFB.de: It was surprising to see Raphael Guerreiro playing alongside you in attacking midfield, who is the left back for European champions Portugal. How did you find it playing together with your new teammate?
Götze: He did his job very, very well. You could see that we played brilliant as a team today and gelled very well. We showed determination going forward, had many chances to score and had 30 shots in the end. It went really well for us bearing in mind that we have another important game this weekend in the Bundesliga at home to Darmstadt.
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Borussia Dortmund started their Champions League campaign in spectacular fashion. Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Legia Warsaw 6-0 and lead Group F ahead of Real Madrid, who beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 with a last-minute winner. Mario Götze played a key role in his side’s win, scoring his first goal since his return to BVB this summer. The 24-year-old spoke to DFB.de about being back to his best.
DFB.de: Mr Götze, the first goal is always important, and you opened the scoring against Legia Warsaw. Do you know when you scored your last goal with your head?
Mario Götze: I don’t know how many headers I have scored, but I’m sure you do. (laughs)
DFB.de: The 6-0 win in Warsaw was Dortmund’s highest ever victory in the Champions League. You played a big part in that, not just because of your early goal. What’s your take on the game?
Götze: It’s great to win a Champions League game 6-0 for the first time. We had to show a good response after playing badly in Leipzig at the weekend. So it was important for us as a team to start well in the Champions League. We managed to do that really well and you could see it from the first minute. It was important that we scored very quickly away from home. That was definitely positive.
DFB.de: Was it particularly special for you to score again for Dortmund exactly 1,250 days after your last goal for the club?
Götze: Of course. The most important thing was that we picked up three points and got off to a positive start in the Champions League. Getting on the scoresheet made it even more special.
DFB.de: You were recently given some game time in the national side in the friendly against Finland and you started the World Cup qualifier in Norway. With BVB you have been in the starting line-up against Leipzig as you were in Warsaw. How are your fitness levels at the moment?
Götze: Right now I need a 3 week break. (laughs) No, being serious, I feel really good and I believe that people can see that on the pitch. I’m feeling great. I just try to do my best and get the maximum out of myself, which is what the coach asks and expects of me.
DFB.de: It was surprising to see Raphael Guerreiro playing alongside you in attacking midfield, who is the left back for European champions Portugal. How did you find it playing together with your new teammate?
Götze: He did his job very, very well. You could see that we played brilliant as a team today and gelled very well. We showed determination going forward, had many chances to score and had 30 shots in the end. It went really well for us bearing in mind that we have another important game this weekend in the Bundesliga at home to Darmstadt.
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