First season at Dortmund felt like Master’s in football, says Bartra

The versatile Bartra, who can operate both in midfield and defence, had made an 8-million Euro switch from Barcelona (Spain) to Dortmund (Germany) in 2016. “The then head coach Thomas Tuchel convinced me to join the club. I settled in straight away and started practically every game,” Bartra told DT Next through email.

“I got so many minutes under my belt. Dortmund had endured a few trophyless years prior to 2016. So, it was nice to win the DFB-Pokal in my debut season,” added the 28-year-old. Courtesy of lack of game time at Barcelona, Bartra had decided to move to greener pastures, swapping one domestic powerhouse for another.   “As players, we often get to choose. The Dortmund fan base is renowned world over. When you watch its games, the atmosphere there gives you goosebumps. I wanted to be a part of that and hence fancied the transfer,” remarked Bartra, a huge fan favourite among the ‘Yellow Brigade’.

Bartra, currently plying his trade at Seville-based Betis, spent two full years in Bundesliga and termed the German top-flight competition as “very competitive”. “It is a league that toughens one up, the game is fast-paced. The 90 minutes are filled with good play, intensity and battles. One can’t relax for even a minute,” he stated.

Bartra admitted the styles of play in Spain and Germany are quite different, but stated the philosophy which Tuchel had (at Dortmund) was similar to what La Liga teams prefer.