Bundesliga
Leon Goretzka: "Leipzig won't win every game"
Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka has warned league-leaders RB Leipzig that the reigning Bundesliga champions are on the prowl as they look to secure an eighth successive league crown.
Bayern go into the Rückrunde sitting third in the table, four points off Leipzig who are in pursuit of a maiden Meisterschale.
And Goretzka is certain that Bayern are well positioned to reclaim top spot by the end of the campaign.
"The season is still very long and there are still a lot of points to be awarded,” he told Goal from Bayern’s winter training camp in Qatar.
“I don't think Leipzig win every game in the second half of the season. We have to get our points and do our job. I think it's realistic that we can do it.”
Bayern resume league duties at Hertha Berlin on 19 January and the 24-year-old Germany international is not only targeting league success this season. The club are still competing across all three fronts, with last-16 ties in the DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League to come in February.
They face English Premier League side Chelsea in the latter, a tie that Goretzka believes is Bayern’s for the taking as they look to clinch Champions League glory for the first time since beating Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 final.
"We want to go further than last year, when we immediately got the winner in the round of 16,” added Goretzka, referencing last year’s exit at the same stage to eventual winners Liverpool. “I was very happy with the draw. Chelsea are attractive opponents. We're confident that we can do it. "
Goretzka’s confidence appears to stem from new coach Hansi Flick, who the former Schalke man can see remaining in the role beyond the end of the season.
"I've known him for a very, very long time and think that he will bite into the task,” he said. "He works very meticulously, very calmly and with a high level of social competence. He looks for conversations with the players and gives everyone a good feeling. It works very well at the moment."