RB Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi: "Manuel Neuer is a role model for me"
RB Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi says that Bayern Munich and Germany No.1 Manuel Neuer is the perfect role model for him as he looks to get even better with age.
Gulacsi made his 200th competitive appearance for Leipzig on Matchday 14, keeping a clean sheet as they stayed two points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern thanks to a 1-0 win at VfB Stuttgart.
The Hungarian has now had five shut outs in succession in all competitions and - although he turned 30 in May - he says his goal is to keep improving.
Watch: Oliver Kahn analyses Neuer and Gulacsi
"In five-and-a-half years at Leipzig, I've never heard the sentence 'Pete, you're good enough now,'" Gulacsi told Bild. "It would be disappointing if someone at the club had that attitude. I'm the perfect age for my position and I want to play in this league for a long time still.
"Manuel Neuer shows that you can still play at the absolute highest level at 34 or 35. In that respect, he's definitely a role model for me."
Neuer showed he was back to his very best last season, winning his second treble with Bayern after first managing it in the 2012/13 campaign.
Watch: Gulacsi's top 5 saves
Gulacsi won Austrian Bundesliga in 2013/14 and 2014/15, was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2015/16 with Die Roten Bullen, and has twice come close to earning bigger honours, losing out to Neuer and Bayern as runners-up in the 2016/17 Bundesliga and in the 2018/19 DFB Cup final.
The former Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg player credits the experience he has already gained for his good form of late, and - having reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last season - hopes that Leipzig can push Bayern all the way in the Bundesliga this term.
"If we can be more consistent than we were in the second half of last season, then hopefully it will be a close race until the end," he said.
Leipzig currently have the best defence in the German top flight, with Gulacsi unbeaten in seven of 14 league matches so far. They're also into the last 16 of both the DFB Cup and the Champions League - where Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool await.
Gulacsi believes that last season's European heroics - when Leipzig knocked out Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final - have helped Julian Nagelsmann & Co. to become a stronger outfit in 2020/21.
"We've taken the next step as team and have grown even closer together through the Champions League tournament in Lisbon," he said. "We're still benefitting from that spirit. You can tell that from our defensive work, for example.
"Defensive performances show me how closely connected a team is. Defending is about mentality, and we can do it very well."
That will be put to one of the toughest tests on Saturday, though, when Borussia Dortmund come to the Red Bull Arena and will attempt to stop Gulacsi from equalling Leipzig's club record of five consecutive Bundesliga clean sheets.
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