Bundesliga
Can: "Goal against Leverkusen is best of my career"
Juventus loanee Emre Can made a dramatic first impression for Borussia Dortmund, scoring a stunning strike that the Germany international has already added to his highlight reel.
Can, 26, took just half an hour to make his mark on his Bundesliga debut in Dortmund colours, sending a 30-yard effort soaring beyond Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and into the top corner. The goal put BVB 2-1 up, before the midfielder's former club hit back to win an instant classic 4-3.
Watch: Emre Can's wonderful debut goal for Borussia Dortmund
“Without question, it’s one of the best goals of my career,” Can told the club’s BVB Matchday Magazine programme before adding that Lucien Favre’s young side should take plenty of positives from the game, despite their defeat.
“Obviously we were really disappointed. When you’re leading in the 80th minute, you want to win the game. I don’t think we played badly. We did well for 80 minutes, and then had a couple of minutes where we were a bit too passive.
“But I think you can take a lot, and learn a lot, from these games. We’re still a relatively young team and, as I said after the game, this team has so much potential.”
Watch: Can: "I'd rather have three points than my goal"
The five-time Bundesliga champions welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the Signal Iduna Park next, a fixture that will see Can run out in front of the famous Yellow Wall as a Dortmund player for the first time.
A Frankfurt native, it will be an encounter to savour for the ex-Bayern Munich man as he experiences the backing of Dortmund’s world famous south stand against his hometown club.
“I’m really looking forward to the game, I have to say, because playing here in front of the Yellow Wall for the first time can only be special,” Can explained. “It’s famous around the world, and I’m really looking forward to them getting behind us.
“Playing against your hometown club is special as well... My family and my closest friends still live there [in Frankfurt]. It will always be the place I call home.”
Can, who says his winter move to Dortmund is “a good fit” for both him and the club, will be made to feel right at home by the BVB faithful, even if his current digs aren’t quite as homely as his family’s back in Frankfurt.
“So far everything’s been great,” added the 25-time Germany international. “But, unfortunately, I’m still looking for somewhere to live - I’m still staying in a hotel!”