This article was first published in Champions Journal – read the full piece here.

WORDS Simon Hart | INTERVIEW Antonia Wisgickl

Manuel Neuer is in a reflective mood. Now 38, the Bayern München goalkeeper became a father for the first time in March – something which can add a fresh layer of perspective to anybody’s outlook. Yet right now, as he sits speaking to Champions Journal, his focus is on another event which prompted much introspection on his part – the career-threatening lower-leg break he suffered in a skiing accident in December 2022.

“If we were to ask the medical staff and the rehab team, they would scarcely believe that we are where we are today because I think out of every ten people only one or two manage to come back from that,” he says. “Particularly after the injuries and with the games I played, it couldn’t have gone any better than it did, for me to be standing in goal and performing well again. It was a big strain for me, which is normal for a serious injury. I think everything takes time and ultimately nature decided if it would work out or if I would never be able to play again.”

That he was back playing for Bayern ten months after the fracture to the tibia and fibula in his right leg was down to “thinking positively and the desire to play football and play professional sport again”. That determination should surprise none of us given the admirable longevity of a player who, among the goalkeeping fraternity, is second only to Iker Casillas for most appearances in the Champions League, with 138 (prior to this month’s semi-finals) to the Spaniard’s 177.

Moreover, with his clean sheet in the quarter-final home victory over Arsenal, he did not just help his team into another semi-final but surpassed Casillas’s record of 57 shutouts in the competition. “It’s not the most important thing there is but it’s nice for my team-mates — and all the colleagues I’ve played with in the past — if we think about our defensive work. I started with Schalke and then continued at Bayern, right up to the present day, and it’s great that it’s not over yet.”

Those clean sheets are part of a bigger picture in which he has made over 500 appearances for Bayern and worn the captain’s armband since 2017 – earning a special place in the club’s pantheon as one of only three goalkeepers to have held aloft the European Cup along with Sepp Maier and Oliver Kahn.

As an interviewee, Neuer speaks with the clarity and maturity of a man on the verge of 500 Bundesliga games and – ahead of this summer’s EURO – 117 senior capsfor Germany. He is polite to the point of shaking the hand of every member of the film crew present as he introduces himself. Since his early days at Schalke, his first club, he has been considered a pioneer of the sweeper-keeper role though in his eyes, defensive security still represents the most important thing a goalkeeper can give his colleagues. “I think being able to give the rest of the team the feeling that they’ve got someone at the back that they can rely on to provide assurance, that’s the decisive factor.”