Bayern Munich’s Marc Roca talks differences between German and Spanish football

It took Bayern Munich midfielder Marc Roca some time to adjust to life in Germany — on and off the pitch.

The Spaniard invested into trying to adapt to his new surroundings, but one thing that was hard to adjust to was the high pressure applied during most games in the Bundesliga.

“It’s not usual in Spain for you to increase the pressure on your opponent as quickly as we do after losing the ball, but you work backwards and defend as a team. The key to our success is this extreme counter-pressing, which I personally find very interesting. In this way you give the opponent hardly any opportunities or time to build up his own attack,” Roca told Bayern Munich’s club magazine 51 (as captured by FCBayern.com). “I always try to help the team anyway. In the six-man position, it is a central task in this system to defend from the front and quickly seek contact with the opponent. I like Julian Nagelsmann’s game idea.”

Through it all, Roca said he was honored to be able to be in this environment and play for Bayern Munich.

“FC Bayern is not only a big club, but also very familiar. It’s an honor for me to play here in a club full of legends. What is extremely pronounced here is this unbelievable winning mentality. At Bayern, everyone wants to get better and better, every day, constantly topping themselves. That suits my mentality. It was also important to me to learn the language quickly so that I could better internalize the culture here. I understand almost everything and can have a good conversation,” said Roca.