Weigl: "Always a special atmosphere in the cup"

As far as Julian Weigl is concerned, there’s always a pass on. The 21-year-old midfielder looks increasingly at home at the base of Borussia Dortmund’s midfield, and holds the record for the most number of passes played in a single Bundesliga game, with 214. What makes that feat even more remarkable is the fact that he didn’t play the full 90 minutes that day, coming off after 83 against Köln. Ahead of his side’s cup tie on Wednesday (20:45 CEST), the Germany international spoke about opponents Union Berlin, the transitional phase at Dortmund, and learning from Bastian Schweinsteiger.

DFB.de: How much do you know about Union Berlin and how they play?

Julian Weigl: I’ve seen clips of Union at home, and I know them from my two seasons in the second division when I was with 1860 München. There’s always a fantastic atmosphere at the Alte Försterei, and it’s certainly no downside for us that the game will be in Dortmund. Either way, we’ll go into the game with confidence, and I’m sure we’ll be able to get through to the next round.

DFB.de Do you know any of their players personally?

Weigl: I know Kenny Redondo from when I was at 1860 and he played for Unterhaching. I know that Collin Quaner plays up front for Union, and I knew Bobby Wood, who recently left them for HSV. I also know Erol Zejnullahu and obviously Toni’s brother Felix Kroos. The DFB Cup is always cool - there’s a special atmosphere when you’re playing in a knockout game and know that one team will be eliminated. I was playing for a lower league team in the cup two years ago, but now I’m with the favourites and we want to live up to those expectations against Union.

DFB.de: In Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gündogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, three of Dortmund’s key players left the club this summer, while eight new faces joined. How have you dealt with this upheaval as a team?

Weigl:There’s no doubt that we’ve strengthened a lot - the new arrivals fit in well as players and as people as well. From the very first day of pre-season, the coach has been working hard to ensure they take to our style of play and to make sure we grow as a team. I could tell that from the moment I came back from my holiday in early August, after the European Championship. We’re happy that things are starting to come together already, but you could see from the game in Leverkusen for example that there is still work to be done, and now we need to keep improving on those little things.

DFB.de: Finally, we’d just like to talk about Bastian Schweinsteiger. You came on for him as a substitute in his final game against Finland, which was surely no mere coincidence. How did you get to speaking with him during your time at the team’s headquarters at EURO 2016 in Evian?

Weigl: I think I asked him something about Rosenheim, which is where we both grew up. That set us off talking, and we got on pretty well straight away. His advice is invaluable to me, because a lot of things are still new to me. In any situation where I think to myself ‘I’ve never been here before’, Bastian always seems to have good advice for me. Also, any time I do ask him things, I don’t get the impression that it annoys him at all. I value that a lot, and I hope that I won’t lose touch with Bastian.