The fans of Borussia Dortmund are truly amazing. It is hard to describe what you feel when you play in front of them, the atmosphere they create not only on the yellow wall with its 25000-something fans jumping up and down a full 90-plus minutes of every game, no matter the score or the opponent.

At the same time the players around me almost make it an automatism to score goals. We have so much quality and speed on the pitch - the genius of players like Mario Gotze or Marco Reus has to lead to goals.

I try to stay as young as these rookies are.It feels a bit strange not to be anymore the youngster I used to be. But I'm okay with it. Mostly, I enjoy being on the pitch with so many talented players around me.

We have our ambitions [in Dortmund Borussia], and of course I would love to win some titles after some years of finishing second or losing finals.

There are a lot of things to like about [Borussia Dortmund's fans] and the city of Dortmund as a whole.I like their honesty. And I like that my family and I can feel safe here. I don' t have to worry at all about my safety and their and my own safety. Believe me, in other countries I have made different experiences in that regard. All of this, too, has led to my decision to extend my contract until 2020, and I can imagine staying even longer.

My mother used to have a shop in which she offered very colorful clothes. I liked that from my early days on.

I have a passion for fast cars. To drive them means pure joy to me.