Julian Brandt produced one of the highlights during Bayern 04 Leverkusen's 3-2 home win over FC Ingolstadt. His classy touch created Charles Aranguiz’s goal, a feat which helped him get over the fact that his run of goalscoring came to an end. After the game he spoke to DFB.de about his future prospects, a place in Germany's EURO squad, an unusual season and his trick prior to setting up the equaliser.
Question: Mr. Brandt, why did your scoring run come to an end today?
Julian Brandt: I had my chances but their keeper made some good saves. We could've scored a couple more goals.
Question: Did this game accurately depict Leverkusen's seasons as a whole?
Brandt: We didn't get off to a good start but things improved. We turned the game around and it was good entertainment for the fans. I would've liked to watch this game!
Question: How are your thoughts ahead of the announcement of the European Championship squad?
Brandt: I reckon that any other player who is currently being linked to make the squad is not as calm as I am.
Question: But taking part in the European Championships would still be a dream come true, right?
Julian Brandt produced one of the highlights during Bayern 04 Leverkusen's 3-2 home win over FC Ingolstadt. His classy touch created Charles Aranguiz’s goal, a feat which helped him get over the fact that his run of goalscoring came to an end. After the game he spoke to DFB.de about his future prospects, a place in Germany's EURO squad, an unusual season and his trick prior to setting up the equaliser.
Question: Mr. Brandt, why did your scoring run come to an end today?
Julian Brandt: I had my chances but their keeper made some good saves. We could've scored a couple more goals.
Question: Did this game accurately depict Leverkusen's seasons as a whole?
Brandt: We didn't get off to a good start but things improved. We turned the game around and it was good entertainment for the fans. I would've liked to watch this game!
Question: How are your thoughts ahead of the announcement of the European Championship squad?
Brandt: I reckon that any other player who is currently being linked to make the squad is not as calm as I am.
Question: But taking part in the European Championships would still be a dream come true, right?
Brandt: Absolutely. If I get the invite, even just for the pre-tournament preparations in Ascona, I would be over the moon. But right now I'm just looking to enjoy the weekend.
Question: What is your personal gut feeling? Will you be on vacation or going to France?
Brandt: It's difficult to say. There are quite a lot of good players in Germany, also in the youth teams. I'm really excited to find out what will happen, but it's difficult to predict.
Question: Do you also think that this season took an incredible turn for you at one point?
Brandt: Yes, absolutely. But there are parallels to the entire team. We had a real rollercoaster ride this season as a team and I personally went through it as well. The first half of the seasons wasn't a complete catastrophe, but it also didn't go as everyone had expected.
Question: When did you and the team experience the turning point? Sporting director Rudi Völler mentioned the game in Stuttgart.
Brandt: Yes, but our game against Hamburg was already quite good. It's quite simple actually: Once the team starts to play better as a whole, you also start to improve. We earned ourselves the victory against Hamburg and then improved against Stuttgart before going on a run.
Question: Have been practicing that move you pulled off shortly before the equaliser?
Brandt: We joked about it after the game. I wanted to sidestep around the opponent if he came charging towards me and it worked out quite well. But sometimes it doesn't go as planned.
