Mukiele comments after late winner

After scoring the winner against Inter to place Bayer Leverkusen second in the Champions League standings, Nordi Mukiele spoke out on his time thus far at the club and his dramatic goal at the BayArena.

“My start [in Leverkusen] wasn’t easy. I didn’t take part in pre-season, didn’t play in a friendly either.”

“When I arrived here, the team was ready for the Bundesliga, but I wasn’t. Then I worked even harder,” said the Frenchman after making eight appearances in all competitions for the champions this campaign.

Mukiele arrived on loan from Paris Saint Germain in the summer after a far-from-ideal spell in the French capital, with just 35 appearances between 2022 and 2024. Mukiele returned to the Bundesliga after spending four years at RB Leipzig before his Parisian move.

Speaking on Tuesday’s clash of champions at the BayArena between Leverkusen and Inter, the 27-year-old said that, “After the first half, we said they we just had to keep going until the last minute. And that’s what we did, and I scored in the last minute.”

“I’m very happy about that and our performance.”

Teammate Granit Xhaka also spoke out regarding the Frenchman.

“Every start in life is not easy. Coming into a new team after this season, in which everything was perfect for us, is probably even more difficult, but Nordi is a player who can play in different positions and has a mentality that is very important.”

“He is very stable defensively and physically. The fact he’s now scoring also scoring goals is all the better.”

Tuesday’s result saw die Werkself jump to second in the standings behind leaders Liverpool, who overcame Leverkusen by four goals to nil in November.

Mukiele and Leverkusen now turn their attentions to a trip to Augsburg on Saturday afternoon after a recent uptick in form after an inconsistent run.