BAYERN MUNICH, Badstuber: "I’m not the finished product yet"

© foto di Daniele Buffa/Image Sport

With one game remaining in the Bundesliga, Bayern's meagre total of 21 goals conceded is easily the lowest in the league. If FCB can keep a 19th clean sheet of the campaign in Saturday's trip to Cologne, they would match their own record set in 2007/08. One of the biggest contributors this term has been Holger Badstuber, who has started 32 fixtures and missed only the trip to Bremen.

In fact, Holger was still on the field at the final whistle 31 times. “It's been a very decent season for me so far," the defender modestly told fcbayern.de, although he did agree he has taken “a big step forward" in 2011/12. The 23-year-old FCB youth product looked back on some action-packed weeks, offered his views on the forthcoming finals in the DFB Cup and Champions League, and reflected on the luxury of a two-and-a-half day break.

Interview: Holger Badstuber

fcbayern.de: Holger, after playing twice a week for seven weeks, you've had two-and-a-half days off. Did you enjoy it?
Holger Badstuber: We’ve all enjoyed catching up on the leisure time we've missed in recent weeks. I think it's done everyone in the team, and also me personally, a lot of good. It's good to get away a little, recharge the batteries which were pretty much empty, and turn your thoughts to other things. It's important to do so from time to time.

Which was more important: resting your legs or your brain?
Clearing our heads, I'd say! Your legs will always manage, and I personally have no problem playing through all these matches. But obviously it's very important to switch off, come down from this permanent state of tension, from the ceaseless concentration, and just rebuild your mental strength. But I'm ready again now and looking forward to our remaining matches.

An eventful period is now behind you, with a cup thriller in Gladbach, the match which effectively decided the title in Dortmund, and the Real double-header. Have you had time to reflect on it all? How would you sum it all up?
Obviously, it's a mix of positives and negatives, but it all happens so quickly in football. We won in Gladbach and were overjoyed to make the cup final. The trip to Berlin is fantastic for the club as a whole. Then we went to Dortmund on the back of a great run during which we won everything, and we'd closed the gap too. Losing there was devastating. But then we had the highlight tie against Madrid, where you sensed the support of the whole of Germany, not just the Bayern fans. And getting through against such a great team at the Bernabéu was massive. It's been an exciting time with highs and lows.