Moussa Diaby helped me a lot when I arrived reveals Amine Adli

The Bayer 04 Leverkusen star Amine Adli has recorded five goals and six assists across all comptions and Bundesliga this season. Learn about his Bundesliga season, Bayer 04 Leverkusen season, goals for the remaining season and a few quick-fire questions about his life and career.

It’s almost been two years since you joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen. How do you rate your experience with Bayer so far?

“Very good, I’m happy to be here. I have felt at home since my first day and have now been at the club for longer, I know more people and feel more comfortable, and I’m very happy.”

How do you see your own development as a player and as a professional?

“I think I have developed a lot here, I have learned a lot about myself and my football. The last few months haven’t been easy for me, I have had big injuries. I learned a lot from this though, about who I am, about football, and about things that are important outside of football. I have learned and improved a lot since I came here.”

Who has supported you in difficult times?

“My family for sure, my wife was a big support, my friends have been around me, visiting me, asking if I’m ok, making me forget my injury and think about other things. This was key for me.”

Do your friends from France support you here in the stadium?

“Yes, they try to come often.”

What’s your favourite position on the pitch?

“It’s hard to say, but the way we play, on the right wing, but we know that Moussa plays here. I think I can play every position in the front, I just need to get a rhythm in the position and play often in that position. I think I have the ability to play there, I think I can play everywhere, but I have more skills for the right, to dribble, to shoot one against one, and in the centre.”

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

“I could improve my finishing, my shooting. I think I have a good shot but I don’t use it enough in games. My final choice, to give an assist or to make a good decision in the right moment, I have to improve this to help the team.”

What was the best game in your eyes?

“I think the game against Gladbach was good, and the one against Bayern Munich was a good game, as well.”

Against Bayern you got booked twice for diving. Can you describe how that felt, especially after the second time that happened?

“The second time was calmer from my side because I knew it was a mistake and the referee took the decision, but I knew if VAR looked at it again it would be the same situation, so I felt calmer. The first situation was more difficult for me, I was very angry at that moment because it was a clear penalty, so it wasn’t fair that I got a yellow card. It can change the game if you get this penalty, and we got it. After the two situations I was just enjoying myself, I was very happy, it was funny with the referee at that moment.”

Did you talk to the referee, Stieler? What did he say after taking back the yellow cards?

“Yes, we spoke. For the second penalty I told him when I was on the floor, ‘I didn’t like you before, now I really don’t like you, it’s a penalty, we’ll see.’ He didn’t answer and then came back and said sorry. I said it’s nothing, that’s what VAR is for, then it was ok.”

A good day to make use of VAR, right?

“Yes, this time was a good day for VAR, I was happy that VAR was on our side.”

A decisive moment in the match against Bayern, right?

“Yes, for sure, I think if we hadn’t got these penalties, we’d have deserved a better result than 1-0 at halftime.”

Why didn’t you take the penalty?

“Because I’m not on the list. I have to improve my shooting in penalties in training then I’ll be on the list.”

Bayer’s start into the season was quite rocky – how did things change after Xabi Alonso took over?

“He came at the same time I was returning from my injury. I was feeling healthier, more powerful, and more ready to play games. I knew that with a new coach, new chances were going to come – you have to show everybody. For me it was a new opportunity and I could really start my season. After I had started into the season late, then got injured twice. So I had to show what I could do and be the best possible in training and in games.”

What is he like as a coach and as a person?

“He’s Spanish, so he likes good football, he likes it when we keep the ball and play nicely, with good movement, and everybody wants the ball. I think what we see more is that he likes to win games. For him, it doesn’t matter what happens in the game, in the end we have to win, and we feel this in every training session. He pushes us to be positive. Every time you miss something he makes you do it again until you improve. This is the best thing about him.”

Is he a good role model as someone who has won so many titles and still remains so calm and humble?

“Yes, of course, for us he’s a role model. We can’t be arrogant if we have a coach like this. By comparison, I have done nothing so far in football, if I look at this guy who is humble, calm and respectful, and has won everything. I cannot make too much of myself with what I’ve achieved in football so far. We learn a lot from him. When he speaks, you listen more intently because you know what he is saying he has lived as a player. He knows everything, finals, big games, the World Cup. For sure we listen very clearly to him.”

What are your team goals and what is your personal ambition for the near future?

“During the season we are having right now there is still a lot we can achieve. We are still in the race in the league and in the Europa League too. Every competition you play is there to win. If we can win the Europa League we will be delighted. We are in the quarter final and now everything will happen. We have to set ourselves big goals and then we will see.”

With which French players in the Bundesliga do you stay in touch?

“Manu Koné and Nathan Ngoumou from Gladbach because we played together, but then, nobody really a lot.”

Who is your closest teammate in the Werkself?

“Moussa Diaby, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Tapsoba, I am very close to these guys.”

Was Moussa Diaby a factor when you decided to join Leverkusen?

“Yes, for sure, you see who is in the locker room and it’s always easier to come if there’s a French guy. Moussa helped me a lot when I arrived.”

Do you guys meet up off the pitch?

“Yes, we do things together, we go for lunch, we go shopping, we do things outside of football, it’s normal for us.”

Where are your roots as a footballer? Tell us about your first steps to becoming a footballer.

“I started in my hometown Pézenas where I was living. I played there until I was 13, then I moved to Béziers, a bigger city, where I played for three years before moving to Toulouse.”

Who was your biggest supporter back then?

“When I was younger, nobody told me I had to be a football player. I was just enjoying it and my dad was supporting me, but he didn’t put me under any pressure by saying I could do it, I had quality. My dad has a lot of responsibility for my success though, he was behind me, he came to every game, he drove me to every training session. He was a big support, but without any pressure, I just enjoyed it and he brought me to football because I liked it.”

Before Toulouse, did you play amateur level or professionally?

“Amateur, but we were a big club in our region. In Béziers things started to get serious. We knew we had good teams and good players, this is when football got more serious for me, but I was still playing to enjoy it, to burn my energy off on the pitch, having fun running, dribbling, scoring.”

Do you still hang out with your friends from Béziers?

“Yes of course, one of my best friends whom I knew from there is coming today. He is still playing for Béziers at the moment, his name is Zachary Rosa.”

Do you remember the moment when you knew you could make it as a professional player?

“I think I was 15 or 16 when I started at the Toulouse academy. In this situation, when you see the first team training, you know that football has become serious and you are there for this. At that age I started to understand that I wasn’t there for pure enjoyment or fun any more, that I wanted to hold on to this. l had the goal to become professional.”

Was your father also a good footballer?

“He really liked football, he watched it and played but he wasn’t a professional, he just played at amateur level for fun. He had quality though, he showed me some skills when I was young.”

Is your sister also into sports?

“I have one sister. When she was young she did athletics, she could run very fast. But she stopped because she lost interest. The opposite of me!”

Do you think speed is in your family’s DNA?

“Yes, I think so! I think it’s in the family. I remember my sister being really fast.”

What would you have become if you weren’t a footballer?

“Seriously? I can’t imagine because since I was 15 I have only thought about this. I know how I am though, so I think I’d have been a simple guy, gone to school, been serious in school and had a good job. I wouldn’t have done anything crazy.”

At Toulouse, was it difficult to reconcile school with football?

“It was ok, because at the academy in Toulouse they made programmes easier for us. We didn’t go to school as often as normal guys because of our training schedule. For me it was ok, my mum was behind me, my dad was supportive of football and my mum was more in favour of school, so I needed to have good marks at school.”

Was it difficult to be separated from your family when you were in Toulouse?

“Sometimes it’s difficult at the start, but you don’t realise when you are young, because you just come and people tell you you are going to play football. At first, you don’t realise you are not going to see your family often. It’s easier if you score goals because the goals are also for your family. When you become a professional footballer you are in a better position to help them. That motivates you – thinking that you are doing it for them.”