Interview with Javi Martinez about his time at Bayern:
Question. With a 15-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund and 54 points out of 63, are you already seeing yourself with one of those beers with which German teams celebrate the Bundesliga?
Answer. It's true that we're doing very well, on the right track. The whole world is telling us that it's done, but we are conscious that we've still got the second half of the season ahead of us. I always say the same: until the maths say that you're unreachable, you've won nothing.
Q. Do you really not see yourself as champion of the Bundesliga?
A. It's true that we'd have to drop a lot. If everything goes like in the first round then it's there for the taking, but I've been told already that the Bundesliga was lost not long ago after having a wide advantage.
Q. Did you imagine that your first season in Germany could be like this, sportswise and personally?
A. When I decided to sign I had no idea about how I could go there. Everything was new: the club, the city, the language... it was a huge question mark. I'm a very homely person, who spends time with family, friends, a man of my land. I had a bit of fear, well, not just a bit. But everything has been great. It's been awesome for me and not just football-wise. I live in a fantastic city as Munich is, a great country as Germany is, and also being able to learn their language, something I'm working on.
Q. What has surprised you about Germany and the germans?
A. The cold! I never thought it'd be so intense. And from the germans, their honesty. There is no tomfoolery. They have the newspapers on the street and you can pick them up without paying, but nobody does that. That doesn't happen in Spain.
Q. How do you remember your arrival at Bayern's dressing room?
A. The first day I came here there was nobody because the team had trained in the morning. The next day they gave me a fantastic welcoming. I tried to speak to themin english, but it was Mario Gomez, Pizarro, and the brazilian lads who introduced me to the rest. They treated me great since I walked through that door.
Q. Any freshman pranks?
A. No, no, that's not usual here. Though there are lots of jokers in the dressing room.
Q. Who's the leading voice when it comes to pranks?
A. There are plenty. Ribery is always joking around, Muller is hilarious... there's a great atmosphere in the dressing room.
Q. Is Schweinsteiger as scary as he looks on the pitch?
A. Bastian? Scary? No way! He's one of those who's surprised me the most. He's an awesome guy. Whenever my brother or my friends came here he's treated them like they had been his friends since forever. He's a spectacular lad.
Q. How was your first Oktoberfest at Bayern?
A. Really good. You have to live it to know what that party means to the city's culture. We all went dressed as bavarians and had a great time.
Q. Was the 40 million thing too heavy on you?
A. No, it motivated me. The club and Heynckes took the pressure off me on that and they told me I only had to play and not think about tehe 40 million. They left that very clear since I arrived here
Q. And being the first spaniard to wear the Bayern shirt?
A. Neither, because since the moment I came here they've made me feel like another one of them, as though I had played with them for a long time.
Q. How's Heynckes when he gets mad?
A. It's a serious thing. He doesn't look as though he has a temper, but when he does... besides, german is a tough language. At first I didn't understand him, but you didn't have to to understand he was really angry.
Q. Is Bayern as exemplary as it appears to be on the outside?
A. It's mindblowing. Leaves an impact on you. It's a club which moves 9 million people, one of the biggest in Europe, and which has been able not to lose that feeling of being in a family. My image of Bayern was that it was a big club and now I think it's a gigantic club which you experience with familiarity and normality.
Q. That probably has to do a lot with the fact that some of the people running the club were great footballers like Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Hoeness…
A. That's really good for the club. They transmit what Bayern means. It's great for us because they know when the pressure has to be on or off.
Q. Of the last three Champions League finals, Bayern has played two.
A. That means that they're doing things really well. The history of Bayern is right there. I wish we can give the club the Champions it deserves.
Q. How much beer would be drunk on the booth if you win it?
A. [Laughs] Everything would go down really well! No, no, I don't want to say anything about what I'd do, don't want to jinx it.
Q. Can you tell at the club the pressure of having to win the Champions League?
A. No, not really. They obviously want to win it, but there is no priority above the Bundesliga or the Cup.
Q. Is this Bayern at the level of Barca or Madrid?
A. Only time will tell. Right now we have to show whether we're better than Arsenal or not. I wish we have to face Madrid or Barca because it would mean we've gone through.
Q. Are you often compared to them in Germany?
A. Madrid and Barcelona are examples and references for everyone, and the same applies here. We aspire to compete with them.
Q. Have you intaken this image of Bayern as Madrid's black beast?
A. I've grown up watching two great duels in the Champions League: Barca - Chelsea and Bayern - Madrid. They always face each other! I've enjoyed a lot watching mythical duels between Bayern and Madrid on the T.V. and I wish I can live that now from the inside.
Q. Is Ribery your Messi or your Cristiano?
A. He's one of the best in the world, who makes a difference, who is different. We need him a lot and I hope he reaches the end of the season at the level which he has had since it started. He's out of this world.
Q. How did you hear about Guardiola's signing?
A. Since I'm a bit out of it all and they always speak in German I heard because a team mate told me. It was a surprise and his arrival generates great illusion at the team.
Q. How do you imagine Pep's Bayern?
A. They don't let us talk much about it because the week of the signing it was the only talking topic and that influenced the match against Greuther Furth, where we didn't play well. They asked us that, regardless of how much illusion it brings everyone, we've still got half a league left and that's what matters.
Q. But do you think Pep's Bayern can play like Barca?
A. Only time will tell. Bayern is playing great, we've got great players and most of them are really young.
Q. Well, there are countless names coming up each day for Guardiola's project...
A. [Laughter] I have a list of everyone who's been named: Beñar, Isco, Silva, Chico... we're making a whole new separate team! We have a great team, with very young people. I'm at a gigantic team.
Q. Who is the player who has surprised you the most?
A. Alaba. I think he's a monster football player who is at an impressive level. A similar ting has happened to me with Dante. When I saw him I said: "********, what class he's got!". I thought it was because his form was great at that moment, but I've already seen it's like that all the time. I insist, however, that the overall team level is extremely high, starting from the goalkeeping, because Neuer is world class, all the way to the top.
Q. Did you see Heynckes as being hurt when the Guardiola announcement was made?
A. No, because it's something which I think was already known, which wasn't a sudden decision.
Q. Has he told you whether he'll quit football?
A. No, no. Truth is, we don't know whether he'll keep on coaching or not.
Q. How is the Bundesliga on the inside?
A. A sight to behold. The atmosphere at the matches is incredible. I've been told to wait and see how it's like when we play at Dortmund's stadium. My team mates have told me it's the best atmosphere you can experience in Europe.
