Barcelona may have been one his boyhood favourites, but the Bayern striker will be doing them no favours in the Champions League...
Lukas Podolski has revealed that he has always been a Barcelona supporter, but he will be putting that alliegance to one side on Wednesday when Bayern Munich visit Camp Nou.
The German international striker adopted the Catalan outfit behind his beloved FC Koln when he was young and has always followed the fortunes of the team.
Now though he is preparing to come face-to-face with them and has no doubt that he will be doing everything he can to help Bayern Munich into the semi finals of the Champions League.
"I have been a big Barcelona fan for many years although there will be no mercy from my side on Wednesday," he told uefa.com.
"We head to Barcelona to get at least a draw. The best way to forget about [the 5-1 loss] is to play well against Barcelona. That is my goal."
"Years ago there were two clubs I loved – Köln and Barcelona. I remember when Barça had brilliant players like Hristo Stoichkov, Rivaldo and Romario.
"Playing at school I wanted to be the new Rivaldo; I even called myself that. Every kid has his idols and Rivaldo was one of mine."
Bayern's preparations were not helped at the weekend when their run of four consecutive wins ended in some style as they were beaten 5-1 by Wolfsburg.
"It is really difficult to explain what happened," he continued. "We played quite well in the first half. Even when we conceded the first goal we responded very quickly.
"In the second half we were like a machine which broke down. Why? I have no idea, but, one thing I do know, is that the best method of recovery is to play well against Barcelona."
While pundits all make Barcelona the favourites to defeat the Bavarian outfit and to win the competition, Podolski was keen to point out how well Bayern have done in Europe this term.
"Everybody knows how good they are, but, on the other hand, everybody should remember that Bayern have not lost in the Champions League this year," he added.
"We feel great playing in this competition and don't want to be written off before the game – it would be a big mistake. We may be playing against giants but we are giants too. We are going there to play well.
"What would a good result for us be in Barcelona? Of course we want to win but a draw is the minimum."
Lukas Podolski has revealed that he has always been a Barcelona supporter, but he will be putting that alliegance to one side on Wednesday when Bayern Munich visit Camp Nou.
The German international striker adopted the Catalan outfit behind his beloved FC Koln when he was young and has always followed the fortunes of the team.
Now though he is preparing to come face-to-face with them and has no doubt that he will be doing everything he can to help Bayern Munich into the semi finals of the Champions League.
"I have been a big Barcelona fan for many years although there will be no mercy from my side on Wednesday," he told uefa.com.
"We head to Barcelona to get at least a draw. The best way to forget about [the 5-1 loss] is to play well against Barcelona. That is my goal."
"Years ago there were two clubs I loved – Köln and Barcelona. I remember when Barça had brilliant players like Hristo Stoichkov, Rivaldo and Romario.
"Playing at school I wanted to be the new Rivaldo; I even called myself that. Every kid has his idols and Rivaldo was one of mine."
Bayern's preparations were not helped at the weekend when their run of four consecutive wins ended in some style as they were beaten 5-1 by Wolfsburg.
"It is really difficult to explain what happened," he continued. "We played quite well in the first half. Even when we conceded the first goal we responded very quickly.
"In the second half we were like a machine which broke down. Why? I have no idea, but, one thing I do know, is that the best method of recovery is to play well against Barcelona."
While pundits all make Barcelona the favourites to defeat the Bavarian outfit and to win the competition, Podolski was keen to point out how well Bayern have done in Europe this term.
"Everybody knows how good they are, but, on the other hand, everybody should remember that Bayern have not lost in the Champions League this year," he added.
"We feel great playing in this competition and don't want to be written off before the game – it would be a big mistake. We may be playing against giants but we are giants too. We are going there to play well.
"What would a good result for us be in Barcelona? Of course we want to win but a draw is the minimum."
