Bayern Munich's Kimmich shares his experiences at Leipzig ahead of clash
Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich is excited to face his former side, RB Leipzig on Saturday night. He penned a column for Goal.com in which he expressed his gratitude to ex-teammates and management. However, he makes it very clear he'll be playing to beat them.
I played at RB Leipzig from 2013 to 2015, and my coach was Alexander Zorniger. He was a coach who was very focused on the details. He did a lot of analytics and we were focused at Leipzig on the play against the ball.
At RB Leipzig at first I was 18 years old. I was the youngest player in the squad and so at first it wasn’t easy because I came there with an injury. As I said I was the youngest there, I had to [work on] my body, I had to work a lot on it and I improved myself.
It was not easy in the third and second leagues, as the football is not that technical. It was getting better when I changed to FC Bayern Munich, because in the first league [Bundesliga] and in the Champions League or cup, the football is more technical. They had one player, Yussuf Poulsen, and I lived with him two years... but also, or especially, I bonded with Diego Demme.
He is a close friend for me, but on the pitch it’s something different. Of course we are friends, but both of us, or all of us, want to win the game.
I think I’m a person who is easy to communicate with, because on the bus I’m next to Kingsley (Coman), in the locker room I’m next to Arturo (Vidal). I have a good contact with Mats (Hummels) or Sven Ulreich, also Tom (Starke), he is a bit like my 'father' in the team.
There is a good atmosphere in the squad and I think it will be very important in the next games, and for the whole season, that we work together, that we are a close team.