Philipp Lahm: 'Pep Guardiola prepares the team so well. It's excellent, I don’t think I've ever experienced anything like it'

Bayern Munich captain met former team-mate Owen Hargreaves

Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves returned to his first club, Bayern Munich, to film a documentary and find out what makes the Bundesliga giants tick.

The BT Sport pundit met with club director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso, and also looks back at his own time there - he joined the club at 16 moving from Canada, winning four Bundesliga titles and the Champions League in seven years with the first team.

Speaking to current club captain Philipp Lahm, the man who lifted the World Cup last summer, Hargreaves speaks about brilliant manager Pep Guardiola and his tactics, as well as Lahm's past and his future plans.

Below are some snippets from the interview with Lahm, who was speaking to the Hargreaves as part of a special documentary 'Inside Bayern Munich with Owen Hargreaves' which airs this Saturday at 10pm on BT Sport 1.

Hargreaves won four Bundesliga titles and the Champions League in 10 years at Bayern Munich (Getty Images)

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Owen Hargreaves: Could you have imagined the journey you'd go on as a young guy? Becoming a professional, club captain, all the success with the Championships, Champions Leagues, winning the World Cup as captain of Germany.

Philipp Lahm: No, no way. I came at 12 in 1995 and everything's a dream. To become a professional. It's a dream to become German champion, to become a German national player but that it all happened, German champion, Champions League winner, captain of the club, to play for the national team. It's not something that you can plan. Maybe eventually it becomes a goal but at the beginning that's what it is, just a dream.

Hargreaves: It was a hard school...

Lahm: It was a hard school definitely, it was a different time but it was also beautiful. Times have changed now, where young players have more of a chance to come into the first team and be a part of the team. They are accepted straight away and helped a lot more whether that's a good thing or not I'm not so sure because to push yourself through that time is something that this generation has missed out on.

Philipp Lahm with Bayern boss Pep Guardiola (Getty Images)

For me this is my home. I'm born in Munich, I grew up here, I've been at Bayern Munich since I was 12 years old besides the 2 years in Stuttgart. This is my home here, it would have been hard for me if I'd left and the club had had success without me. I might have won the Champions' League earlier with another club but the value of winning the Champions' League with my club is much more valuable.

I have a contract until 2018, I might play for fun in my free time for another team but not in professional football. It's nice that people talk about me in other positions at the club. I've got another 3 years at the club, let's wait and see what happens then. Of course I can imagine myself staying here after I've finished playing, that goes without question.

Hargreaves: Guardiola came and took over what was already a very successful team from Heynckes. What makes Guardiola so special?

Lahm: His tactical understanding is incredible. He always gives our team solutions to playing the opposition. He prepares for every opposition completely differently. How flexible our team has become, with a back 3, back 4 or back 5.

Hargreaves: I didn't know so many different formations were possible...

Lahm: He prepares the team so well. It's excellent, I don’t think I've ever experienced anything like it. Even though we won the triple with Jupp, it was an incredible time. We got second in everything in 2012, in every competition and then the season after to go win the treble, which was incredible. But besides that point we're playing differently from that time.

With Heynckes in 2013, in the big games we played quite defensive on the counter attack. Everybody worked together as a group, we invested a lot of energy in the games. Now under Pep it's more tactical and we have more possession but not like previously when we had a lot of possession but we didn't have any clear goal scoring opportunities. The goal is to go forward and create goal scoring opportunities. To press very high. To win the ball back very quickly. But to do that you need a clear plan and the daily work on the pitch.

I'm sure that the club will continue. The structure of the club is so good. It's still a family club. But economically the club is so stable and the club works so well. It’s such a strong base that the club has to become successful. I'm not worried about the future. In other countries like England, the TV money that is available, they have a big advantage financially. I think the tradition the club has, being successful for decades is obviously very well known; in England, in Spain, in Italy but economically we have a lot of financial firepower too.

Watch 'Inside Bayern Munich with Owen Hargreaves' on BT Sport 1 this Saturday at 10pm.