Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o, two fantastic African footballers. So successful. And very nice characters as well. I got the luck to know them personally. They helped me a lot.

Only Bayern Munich really have some sort of a guarantee to win if they only catch a good day. All the others need really good days to win. I like that.

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.

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.

I've played in France. There, in many matches everybody is already happy if he can secure a point. Here, in Germany? Forget it! Everybody wants to win. The last-placed team in the standings would take any match with the ambition to win it. That makes it so hard, even for the best teams in the league.

Achieving Champions League football is the minimum requirement and always the most important thing for [Dortmund Borussia] club. Beyond that, we want to win a trophy. Maybe the German Cup, because we've reached the last three finals, but haven't won one, so that's a big motivation for us.

I was always sure the Bundesliga was the right choice for me. My first season was solid, if unspectacular, so maybe I would have preferred it not to be so hard at the beginning, but I've worked very hard to get to this point and want to get even better now.