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HALFTIME | Stuttgart 0:0 FC Bayern

• 32’ YELLOW Martin Harnik

FC Bayern Bundesliga Schedule (Pending)

Jérôme Boateng erklärt die Bedeutung seiner Tattoos im Interview mit FCB.tv

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Players of FC Bayern cycling during training session

FC Bayern preparing for the game against Zürich.

Goal-getter Gomez: No way I’ll let up now

Perhaps it is the fact that Mario Gomez thinks new team-mate Manuel Neuer is “a great guy, not only as a keeper but also as a person.” Or maybe the Bayern striker was just being generous. In any case, the first goal against the new FCB goalkeeper was not scored by Gomez, but by a fan who won a contest to take a penalty against Neuer. However, Mario will show no mercy in front of Manuel from now on. “I intend to carry on where I left off,” he declared. For Bayern’s domestic and European rivals, that sounds a serious threat.

The 25-year-old has 39 goals from his last 36 competitive appearances, and comfortably topped the Bundesliga scoring charts last term with a total of 28 goals. “But defending the top scorer accolade next season is absolutely not a target,” he declared at the club’s Trentino training camp. Nor is he looking for a specific total in the new campaign: “I never set myself that kind of target.”

Gomez’ philosophy is a simple one. “Always score as many goals as possible and help the team, those are my targets,” he stated, before adding a little flesh to the bones: “I want to play and finish the season with as many goals as last year, and then succeed with the team too.”

No let-up

It is well-known that Gomez and the team finished last season without a trophy, but that makes the players even more determined for the new campaign, the goal-getter insisted. He has set his sights on the league title and the DFB Cup, “and I’m very confident we’ll go a long way in the Champions League.”

“But we have to do our homework first,” he continued, referring to the gruelling pre-season training programme. “There’s no way I’m going to sit back and say, okay, the coach knows what I can do. I’ll keep trying to improve, and show the boss he can rely on me,” Mario declared.

New season, new feeling

The player’s solution sounds exactly right. “The decisive criterion for me is performance, not status,” Jupp Heynckes recently confirmed. Gomez has got the message: “If I give it my best shot, I’ll have plenty of good games and help the team. For that, I have to be fit, and fitness is what I want from here.”

The striker is also aiming to improve his overall play. “I’m not just there to put the ball over the line. I moved on from that last season, and I want to continue optimising my game,” Mario said. A year ago, he was close to quitting the club after finding himself relegated to a substitute role, but all that has changed. “Of course, I’m approaching the new season with completely different feelings compared to last year, no question about it,” he remarked, finishing on a promise: “Once again, I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”