Leon Goretzka on scoring in his Bayern Munich return against Viktoria Köln

Leon Goretzka has had arguably a very tough return to the pitch following his knee surgery in July. The Bayern Munich midfielder, who found himself replaced by Marcel Sabitzer and Ryan Gravenberch while he was out in the opening weeks of the season, finally made his return in today’s 5-0 win against Viktoria Köln in the first round of the DFB-Pokal — and came away with a celebratory goal.

After the game, Goretzka opened up on the difficulties he faced in not being able to start from the beginning of the season.

“It wasn’t an easy time for me. I started pre-season with a good feeling, then had to undergo surgery,” he said to DasErste (as transcribed by @iMiaSanMia). “I’m happy to be back on the pitch and my season can really start now.”

Goretzka made his return in the 68th minute, coming on for Joshua Kimmich. In the 82nd minute (video), he finished off a beautiful run towards the opposition box by slotting the ball into the bottom left corner from range, just beyond Benjamin Voll’s fingertips. What a sight it was!

“I didn’t hit it cleanly,” he confessed afterwards (via Tz). “But Brazzo [Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić] always says the smart thing: if you don’t shoot, you can’t score.”

As for Voll’s overall outstanding performance in goal against the Bavarians?

“You can always wish the goalkeeper a good performance in the cup,” Goretzka said. “As long as things go well for us, of course.”

Interested in hearing in-depth analysis of the game? Why not check out our post-game podcast?

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