I never thought of playing for Italy

I owe everything to Spain – that’s where I learned to write, to read, and to play football

As long as you are happy and passionate about what you are doing, you will always develop your skills to be the best you can be.

Now it’s up to me to prove that I can play for Barcelona and help the team to stay at the top

I just want to be on top of my game, because that benefits my team-mates as well.

I am feeling very well so long as I am out there on the pitch with my team-mates.

I’m very happy to work for this club, this team, and these people here at Bayern

One of my dreams is to lift a title with Spain. I lifted titles in the past that did not feel like mine.

Football is global; it does not end at Barca.

It’s the perfect club for any footballer to develop and to grow, because as everybody knows, La Masia can give you stability; they take care of you when you leave home.

Pep trusted me, and I felt that trust. He won a lot of things, and I learned a lot from him during his Barcelona period.

We have to play football and not talk. We don’t talk about politics, the personal opinions, and debates – you take them home. We only talk about football. That’s what we are here for.

It’s a fact that Guardiola is joining Manchester City, and we have to respect that. But there is no truth in the rumours saying I will follow him.

When you master all defensive and offensive aspects of the game and always enjoy the majority of possession, you’re sitting in pole position to win

Every time Spain play England at any level, it is difficult.

Being with the first team is a reward for me. I’ll take the opportunity with everything I have

I want to be a footballer. I don’t want to do anything else

I extended my contract here with Bayern because I am happy. I am very thankful of the club and how they supported me regarding my injuries. That is why I put my contract extension into motion so early.

For me, it’s a pleasure to play football every three or four days.

My feeling is that my body and all my things inside me – when I move, when I do everything – are Brazilian because my family is Brazilian, and my mother language is Brazilian Portuguese. But all the thinking in my life, all the treatment with people, I think I’m more from Spain. That’s how I grew up.

When I was small, I would sit next to my dad and watch the round-up highlights programmed with him, and we would talk about the games. I loved it.

For any dad who has two footballing sons, to have them in a semi-final and know that at least one will reach the final is the best present in the world.

The games I enjoy most are the ones I finish exhausted, and with knocks, but having played

The best thing about having a footballer dad is seeing the game up close. You watch him train, then go home and practice what you’ve seen in the front room, rearranging the furniture.

In Spain, everything’s more tactical, more technical, with more possession. In Germany, it’s more physical; it’s about the runs you make, the counterattacks, and the German mentality is unique: whatever the score, you go to the 90th minute.

Speculating on the future serves for nothing

All of you know how Pep Guardiola is as a manager… he is the best coach in history

It’s always complicated to play against Italy.

There are people you can say you have seen play, such as Pele or Maradona. But Messi is unique, out on his own, and is going to make history. I can say I saw Messi play.

I would like to play with all the great players who would love to come to Bayern.

I can play in any position except goalkeeper

We’re very happy in Munich. I have my kids here. Everything is perfect

I was right choosing to play with Spain. It is a pride; the decision was easy. I love Spain

I don’t regret the move to Bayern. It’s a very good moment for me, also because my team-mates trust in me.

Leo is the best player in the world; that is very clear.

You can play football in Bayern, in Barcelona, in Manchester, in London, wherever. In the end, it’s football, and you want to play with the best.

Munich is a spectacular city with fantastic flair and a tremendous passion for football.

I’m thrilled to be at a massive club like Bayern Munich.

You always want to play with the best.

We have this beautiful tradition at Bayern that we all get together with our families after the game in a room and celebrate the wins. That is why it hurts a lot more when we lose.

It’s just a coincidence that I’ve scored two headers. I’m not a specialist scoring headed goals.

Barcelona, Real Madrid, City – there are many teams you’d want to play against.

I am not dependent on Pep. He is a great coach, but I do not need to take the same path as him.

Football has a thing: You have to decide on an action in a moment, and your head has to be fresh for taking that decision in the moment

I arrived in Spain at three years old when my dad played in Valencia. Then we spent a lot of time in Vigo in the northwest part of Spain.

In Italy, they are incredibly competitive. It may be that their game is more defensive, but they defend so well; here in Germany, there is more speed and intensity. In England, they are more direct, very box-to-box

You need to know how to enjoy the victories. In the end, this is a great sport, and it’s to be enjoyed.

Football is a competition to see who’s the best, not a battle. It’s not a war. When it ends, we’re still alive.

I love watching English football. It’s the league I most enjoy

Spain started to generate a very good playing style from Pep Guardiola’s arrival at Barcelona.

Football’s always been cerebral. The most important thing is thinking fast.

Luck is something you find, or you go for it.

Football’s become more physical. I would have liked to have been born 10 or 20 years earlier to enjoy football with the same commitment and desire but without the toughness it has now.