‘Beating Liverpool can change Bayern’s season’
Bixente Lizarazu is a man of diverse interests. One of the world’s best left backs in his prime, Lizarazu won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship with France, and one Champions League and six Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich. Post retirement, he has taken up jiu-jitsu and surfing, among other activities. Now in India as an ambassador of Bayern, he spoke on the sidelines of the Bayern Youth Cup here on Saturday.
Excerpts:
Have Bayern developed the global presence Man United, Real Madrid and Barca have?
The presence is growing now. Football is changing. During my time, there was a European way of thinking on the part of the clubs. Now the outlook is more global; clubs try to go to countries in other continents. That is because there is huge economic competition between clubs today.
Bayern haven’t had a great start to the season. How would you assess Niko Kovac as a coach?
This is his first year. It’s not easy when you are a young trainer. Bayern are second in the league but this season is not over. The first part of the season was not very easy but things can change very quickly. Six points behind Dortmund and they play Liverpool (in Champions League Rd of 16) -- if they win, everything can change.
How different was last year’s French World Cup-winning team from your 1998 side?
Younger, this was a really young team. We were an experienced team in 1998. (Coach) Didier Deschamps has done a fantastic job because it’s not easy to play at a high level for such a long time. That’s what they did. This is a team with a lot of talent – Griezmann, Pogba and the others. I expect them to have more success.
Zinedine Zidane was your teammate at Bordeaux. How was he as a player then?
At that age it was impossible to tell whether he would go on to become the best player in the world. But he was very strong technically; he was somebody with a big brain. He had big ambitions and was training a lot at the time.
You were the first French Basque player to represent Athletic Bilbao (the club signs players only from the Basque community)…
It was purely a sporting reason, moving to Bilbao. I was following a lot of the Spanish league then. At the club, I was injured a lot that season, so I decided to move to Bayern.
How much of a motivation was the 1999 Champions League final loss (to Man United) for Bayern’s win in 2001 (vs Valencia in the final)?
I was injured in the 1999 final, so I watched the match from the tribune. But I had the same feeling the other players had. I went to the pitch to help them; they were all crying. It was a terrible moment but we started building an idea of revenge and we had to wait two years to have this revenge and it was fantastic.
How did you take up jiu-jitsu?
There were many reasons – philosophical, sporting, fitness. After retirement, I still wanted to be involved in sports. So I tried jiu-jitsu and liked it. Now I am a black belt in it and also won a European championship.