DFB.de: And how did you yourself deal with the pressure?
Möller: Actually, I never shied away from pressure, be it transfers or major tournaments with the German national team. It's a learning curve – the longer you are in the professional game, the better you deal with it. If you believe in your own strengths, success is really just a matter of time. You've got to be able to ignore pressure and carry on. And you need coaches and team-mates supporting you. Finally, I think in the 70's or 80's, players leaving their clubs were met with much more outrage and anger from fans than now. Back then, it was the end of the world, today people are a little more relaxed about the whole thing.
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Arguably Germany's most successful player never to have worn the shirt of mighty FC Bayern Munich, Andreas Möller has collected plenty of silverware – he's a World Cup and European Championship winner and won the UEFA Cup (with Juventus Turin, 1993), two German championships (with Borussia Dortmund, 1995 and 1996), three German Cups, as well as the 1997 editions of the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, as it was then called.
16 years on, Borussia Dortmund could win the European crown again. On the day before Dortmund's crucial second-leg semi-final at Madrid on Tuesday (kick-off 20.45 h, live on Sky), 45-year-old Möller talks to DFB.de writer Jochen Breideband about the new generation of Dortmund players, German quality, and the signing of Mario Götze by FC Bayern.
DFB.de: Andy, how does one win major titles?
Andreas Möller: With a strong team and a good club environment. Quality on these two fronts is a definite must, and a little luck always helps. There really is no cut-and-dried recipe for success. What's important is a certain degree of internal competition, if only to egg on one another and always strive to make things better.
DFB.de: Your most successful period as a club footballer was when you played for Borussia Dortmund. Have you ever gone into raptures about the current crop of players?
Möller: Absolutely! As a former Borussia player, I'm obviously happy about recent developments. When Santana scored the winning goal in the quarter-final against Málaga, all hell broke loose in our living room. Going through to the final wouldn't just be great for the club, it would also be a wonderful reward for all the work invested over the last few years. This is the kind of team you've got to fall in love with – so much energy, so much character, so many great players. Hats off to Dortmund for what they've built up.
DFB.de: Comparing the team of '97 with the current squad – where are the similarities and the differences between then and now?
Möller: You can't really compare the two sides. At the time, some in our team had returned from playing in Italy's Serie A, so there was a lot of experience in the squad, times were different. What surprises me is that in today's Borussia, there are so many youngsters playing elite football, just look at Reus, Götze, or Gündogan. That's good for German football and of great benefit for the national team.
DFB.de: What do you think is the decisive factor for the current quality of German football?
Möller: It looks like we're Number One in Europe at the moment and have overtaken the big leagues in Spain and England. In this respect, the Champions League semi-final first-leg matches were something of an exclamation mark. Germany is teeming with talented players and, looking at the junior national teams, there are new ones coming through even now. So I'd say this is anything but a flash in the pan – we're here to stay!
DFB.de: Which brand of football do you like more – Barcelona's possession-oriented game, Dortmund's lightning-speed raids forward, or Bayern Munich's mix of both?
Möller: I've always been an admirer of the quick combinations – lots of one-twos, defence-splitting through balls, no lengthy passing around the back. Which is why I love Dortmund's quick transitions. This team is really multi-faceted and difficult to play against.
DFB.de: Do you think that FC Barcelona, after all those years of dominance, have reached a certain level of saturation.
Möller: Well, obviously these players have won plenty of titles in their time, and maybe it's a good thing for teams like Barca and Real to realise that they mustn't allow things to become sluggish. After the first-leg games, their honour is at stake, so I expect major resistance, especially in Madrid. But generally speaking, as a player you're always hungry for success, for as long as you're in the game. Before you know it, your career is over, so you've got to play to your full potential every season and enjoy every moment.
DFB.de: Just prior to Dortmund's semi-final, news of Mario Götze's transfer to FC Bayern made the headlines. Your own transfers from Eintracht Frankfurt to Juventus Turin, and above all from Dortmund to Schalke, caused quite a stir at the time. So you know what it means to fall from grace with fans…
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Möller: Mario may be very young, but as a player he's matured very fast. He's won two German Bundesliga championships, one DFB Cup, and has reached a Champions League semi-final. So I think he can handle the pressure. He's mentally strong and I'm sure he'll make it at Bayern, too. And let's not forget he's a gifted player, as we saw against Real Madrid last week.
DFB.de: And how did you yourself deal with the pressure?
Möller: Actually, I never shied away from pressure, be it transfers or major tournaments with the German national team. It's a learning curve – the longer you are in the professional game, the better you deal with it. If you believe in your own strengths, success is really just a matter of time. You've got to be able to ignore pressure and carry on. And you need coaches and team-mates supporting you. Finally, I think in the 70's or 80's, players leaving their clubs were met with much more outrage and anger from fans than now. Back then, it was the end of the world, today people are a little more relaxed about the whole thing.
