Quotes from Thiago Alcantara

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

When I was small, I would sit next to my dad and watch the round-up highlights programme 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.

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.

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

I can play in any position except goalkeeper.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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