Sarah Zadrazil

“The euphoria comes with success”

Sarah Zadrazil (right) is having a good season with Bayern so far.

(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

Bayern player Sarah Zadrazil can look back on a successful fall. But nothing has been won yet. In the league, in the cup and in the Champions League, the Munich players still want to play for titles for a long time to come. Things are set to pick up again in the national team.

The German women's Bundesliga kicks off the spring season next Sunday. Bayern's opening game is away to Leipzig. The Munich team need a win to stay at the top. The tension in the league is hard to beat. Eintracht Frankfurt are level on points with Bayern and Leverkusen at the top of the table, with Wolfsburg just one point behind. "I don't think it's ever been this exciting. Normally Wolfsburg and us were always ahead. It makes the Bundesliga very exciting. That also speaks for the league," said Bayern midfielder Sarah Zadrazil. The 31-year-old is pleased that the teams are moving closer together and the quality is increasing. However, she also admits: "In the end, I still hope that we come out on top."

Important games as early as February
"It was our own fault in the first half of the season, we didn't deliver our performance once or twice," said Zadrazil with some regret. Nevertheless, Bayern can be satisfied with the way the season has gone so far. In addition to the league, they are still in the running for the title in the Champions League and the cup. They will find out who their opponents will be in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on February 7 and will face Frankfurt in the DFB Cup on February 12 for a place in the semi-finals. "It will be a very intense second half of the season. But I'm looking forward to getting started again." In order to be at full strength, the Munich women worked hard for a week at the training camp in Seville. At the weekend, Zadrazil attended the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel.

There was exciting news for Zadrazil on Tuesday regarding the national team: The Austrians will in future be coached by her Salzburg compatriot Alexander Schriebl. With him, the women's team should be on the up again. This should give women's soccer a boost in the country: "I think it's generally the case in Austria that the euphoria comes with success and if the success isn't there, the hype is gone again relatively quickly. We have to chalk it up to the fact that we didn't make it to the World Cup. As a result, there is also less attention," analyzes "Zadi".

Nevertheless, she feels that the development in Austria is good. With Red Bull joining Bergheim, something is happening again. "I believe that a lot is happening at club level in Salzburg. Red Bull has big plans. I do believe that women's soccer is getting more and more recognition." Can she imagine returning to Austria and Salzburg as a result? "I'm very happy at Bayern. You can also tell that the club always wants more, it invests more. But you never know what will happen."