At the pre-match press conference, the 25-year-old was asked if he would consider moving to Barcelona next season, to which he replied: “I’m not thinking about that. But you should never rule anything out in life and also in football. Barcelona and Spain as a national team had a big impact. Xavi Hernandez was my childhood role model, I always watched the games with Pep as a coach and the Tiki-Taka. They were a role model.”
Kimmich also spoke highly of Barca boss Hansi Flick, who he previously played under at Bayern and with the German national team. He added: “Hansi created a good spirit back then. He gave the players and everyone around us a lot of trust. Also at times when there were doubts, including we players in ourselves.
“We then played spectacular football that we all loved. We created a dynamic, we believed in what sort of football we were playing. That was what that time was about.”