Rudi Völler, sporting director of Bayer Leverkusen and a former world-class striker, talks to bundesliga.de about the new season.
bundesliga.de: Rudi Völler, what did you make of the opening games in the Bundesliga?
Rudi Völler: They were great. Just like in the last few years, the atmosphere in the Bundesliga is marvellous. All games are sold out. And the matches themselves have been outstanding. Lots of goals. A lot of fun.
bundesliga.de: Bayer Leverkusen have a very young team that seem hungry for goals. As a former striker, does that please you?
Völler: In the last few years, we've often managed to score a lot of goals and to create lots of chances. But often we've left ourselves too open. That's been the main problem in the last few years. We're working on that. Our coach Bruno Labbadia is working at introducing a bit more stability without losing our attacking strength.
bundesliga.de: You've mentioned the new coach. A young team, a young coach - a Bundesliga newcomer. What makes you believe in Bruno Labbadia?
Völler: I've been keeping an eye on Bruno's career over the last few years. Wherever he's been - at Darmstadt or at Greuther Fürth in the 2. Bundesliga, he's gone his own way and imposed his own style. And he's always played attacking football with his teams - which our fans at Leverkusen like. We want to go on that way.
bundesliga.de: How far can Bayer Leverkusen go this season?
Völler: Last year, we just missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Cup. On the last day of the season, we dropped from fourth to seventh place. But our aim is to get back into international competition - that means the UEFA Cup. But it will be hard. The competition is intense, far greater than four or five years ago. A lot of teams are fighting for a slot and we'll have to have a really good season to end up in fifth or sixth position.
bundesliga.de: What can you expect this season based on the first few games? A lot of goals perhaps?
Völler: You can see that German teams haven't done that well internationally in the last few seasons - that's because of the huge financial strength of the English clubs. But a lot of Bundesliga teams play very attacking football. The spectators like that. Everybody wants to get to see the matches - and that's very positive.
bundesliga.de: It definitely won't be a stroll in the park for FC Bayern this year. Which other teams are really in the running for the title?
Völler: Bayern are always going to be favourites. It definitely won't be as easy as last year, when they won the championship with ease. Other teams have built themselves up to prevent that. Schalke will be up there with them, along with Bremen and perhaps Hamburg. They're the three teams that could pose a bit of a threat to Bayern.
bundesliga.de: On matchday 5, Hannover 96 will be coming to Leverkusen. What do you expect of the game?
Völler: We'll be playing at home, so of course we'll be gunning for three points. Hanover haven't had a great start to the season, but they're playing better than their place in the table suggests. So it's a really dangerous game for us. As always, we'll try to put our opponents under pressure - and, of course, try to win.
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