Granit Xhaka is determined to win back-to-back Bundesliga titles

Bayer Leverkusen defensive midfielder Granit Xhaka has requested his teammates to challenge for the Bundesliga title again ahead of the 2024/25 season after last season's heroics. Xhaka joined Leverkusen ahead of the 2023/24 season. The club had never previously won the Bundesliga. This was their first title and they lifted it as Invincibles, not losing a single game. No German side, not even Bayern Munich, had ever done this. Xhaka want his team to play like the previous season so that they can defend the title.

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"The coach trusts me, believes in me," Granit Xhaka in the interview with AFP

The Swiss midfielder spoke with AFP at the club's pre-season training camp and said last season was just the beginning of many great things.

"We know people are hoping to beat us, they will try and they will do everything. But we still have the hunger to be where we were last season," Xhaka said.

Xhaka said  that Xabi, the manager trusts him and influence him to influence others during a game. "The most important thing is that the coach trusts me, believes in me and (the influence) I can have on the team during the game. We lose, we win together. And if I can try and help the coach on the pitch, I will do it for sure."

He also talked about the criticism he received from the Arsenal fans during his time in London. He was named the captain of Switzerland Football Team in 2018. He was made the skipper of Arsenal too a year later. But, after a month, he lost the position for an outburst against fans.

Arteta reintroduced him and he became one of the crucial players in Arsenal's rebuild project. "I'm a fan of criticism, because criticism makes you stronger. This is what I believe," he told AFP.

"I don't drop my head, but I look at what they are criticising, and maybe I need to do something more, or change some things. I believe every player needs to go through criticism... You need to be strong in your head, and to believe and trust yourself that you can still do it. Ten years ago, I was a totally different type of player, much more emotional. Today, I'm less emotional. I believe that experience makes you (who you are)," he added.

Arsenal in their unbeaten Premier League campaign in 2003-04 collected 90 points. Leverkusen finished the Bundesliga with the same points last season, playing four fewer matches. Xhaka said that he thought this only happens once in football.

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"It was 2004 with Arsenal and then 20 years later, I'm part of it in Germany. It makes you feel special, makes you proud and of course very happy," the midfielder said.

Bayer Leverkusen lost only one game last season in all competitions and that was the Europa League Final against Atalanta. Xhaka played a huge role in the club's success and he is determined to do so again this season. Xhaka said he would guide the club's younger players.

"Maybe they're nervous. You can go to them, talk to them and explain it to them, but this feeling, you need to feel it. You need to see the music, the atmosphere and what it is in these games."

Xhaka started his FA coaching badges while at Arsenal and is also an assistant coach at fifth-tier Union Nettetal.