Privately, it was pretty easy, I've settled in very well. I can quickly adapt to a new environment - like in Germany, and now it's the same here. I had a lot of time to prepare this summer. In terms of football, it always takes some time to get used to a new team, new teammates, a new coach, a new club. But I feel very much at ease at the club and in the dressing room now.
Yes, Bernd Rauch, the vice-president in charge of basketball at the time, really wanted me. But I said that I needed to know whether Uli Hoeneß, as president, was also behind the move. Bernd rang him immediately and put the phone on speaker. But instead of Marko Pešić, Mr Hoeneß understood the name Micky Stevic, who was head of sport at 1860 at the time, and yelled into the phone that Bernd could forget it.
First of all, Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga champions are a little bit confident that they will get the centre-half to sign a new contract. However, failing that, there are two clubs that interest Upamecano - otherwise, no Premier League clubs are on the list - and these are Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Both outfits are interested in the 27-year-old because he's currently on track to be a free agent next year.
To mark International Day for Persons with Disabilities, FC Bayern would once again like to raise awareness of integration and at the same time encourage those affected to play an active role in our society. Around 15 per cent of the world's population live with a disability. Let us all help to include them. Our club fosters self-determined and equal participation with various projects. It's not only in sport that it's crucial to practise togetherness.
Dr Werner Zedelius has been a proud member of our supervisory board for ten years. During this time, the club enjoyed historic success. We would like to thank him for his expertise and experience. He has been an extremely valuable advisor to us. In Michael Diekmann, we are gaining a new, first-class source of inspiration for our committee. With his character and financial expertise, he will help us to further develop the club.
It was a disappointing week for Manuel Neuer and Bayern Munich. The Bavarian club suffered their first defeat of the season away at Arsenal in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Neuer committed an error in Arsenal's third goal, which eventually put the game to bed at the Emirates Stadium. Vincent Kompany defended Neuer in his press conference on Friday. The Belgian coach admitted that Neuer did the right thing to come off the line to kill the attack, but credit goes to Gabriel Martinelli to beat him and score the decisive third goal to help Arsenal win 3-1 on the night.
With the midweek loss to Arsenal still fresh in the minds, Vincent Kompany wisely opted for some rotation to the starting XI. In defense, Tom Bischof and Kim Min-jae came in for Josip Stanisic and Dayot Upamecano at left back and center-back, respectively. In the attack, Luis Diaz took over from Serge Gnabry on the left wing, and Raphael Guerreiro got the start as the number ten with Michael Olise amongst substitutes.
Oh yes, I can't have soup without pepper. I like herbs and flavours. I'm sure that has something to do with my African roots. At home, we had traditional Belgian cuisine, but also dishes from the Congo, my father's homeland, like Pili pili. But today I also enjoy Bavarian food - sausage salad, for example.
Sometimes it only takes one player to change a life. For Paul Wheeler, it was Jürgen Klinsmann. When the striker moved from Tottenham Hotspur to FC Bayern in 1995, the young London fan followed him - and stayed. Today, three decades later and ahead of the Champions League showdown against Arsenal (Wednesday, 21:00 CET), Wheeler is the head of the Red Dragons London fan club and says: "Bayern is more than just a club for me, it's my second home."
Bayern Munich have been unbeaten this season until now. They suffered a minor setback when their winning run was halted away at Union Berlin before the international break. Harry Kane scored late in a 2-2 draw to rescue a point for Bayern. It was the first instance this season when Die Roten dropped points in the Bundesliga. The Bavarian club got back to winning ways this weekend by clinching a 6-2 win against Freiburg at Allianz Arena.
Bayern Munich returns after the international break with a banging performance, putting six goals past Freiburg and showing the world their attacking prowess. Yet the performance still has a sense of incompleteness with Manuel Neuer conceding two goals in less than 15 minutes of action. Both of which came from corners. Trouble with dead balls Bayern has been the most fearsome attack all across Europe. Die Roten's open-play defense has also improved tremendously with the magnificent link-up of Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano.
FC Bayern supports the EU-funded GEMINI project, which is led by our partner, the Volkswagen Group. It is dedicated to developing sustainable mobility solutions and accelerating the path to climate neutrality. As part of this project, a pilot test for a Park & Ride solution will be conducted at the FC Bayern Campus for selected home games at the Allianz Arena.
When he first arrived, it was a moment for us to start to know him, to see what stage that he's at right now. When you take decisions, you don't take them because he's a player A, B, C, or D, it's because of the stage they compare to the others. I think you can take the conclusions of what I'm saying to you right now. If he's not playing in this moment of the competition, it means that he's not in a stage that he's ready to go.
There were a lot of positives for Bayern to take from the game against Freiburg. From a squad depth point of view, the biggest was the return of Hiroki Ito. After being out of action for close to eight months, the Japanese defender made his return in the second half. Ito marked this return to action with an assist for Michael Olise's second goal at the end of the game.
There were two special activities before kick-off. The FCB Women players wore special warm-up shirts with a message of support for Lena Oberdorf after the recurrence of her cruciate ligament injury. As well as that, both teams presented a "WE29" banner together in support of the DFB's bid to host UEFA Women's EURO 2029 (' WE29 - Together WE Rise'), with FCB captain Stanway wearing a WE29 armband during the game.
