Benfica's Mitroglou on goals and growing up in Germany

Born in Greece but raised in Germany, Kostas Mitroglou is now striking a rich vein of form in Portugal with Benfica. As he prepares to head 'home' for his team's UEFA Champions League round of 16 decider against Dortmund on Wednesday, he spoke to UEFA.com.

You moved from Greece to Germany when you were still a child, then went back as a teenager to play for Olympiacos. How was that?

Kostas Mitroglou: It was hard to leave Germany, but it was very important for my career. I was leaving my family, friends and the place where I grew up and going somewhere which wasn't really a foreign country for me, but where I didn't speak the language. I think it was the right call. My seven years at Olympiacos helped a lot. It was the first professional club I played for. I settled in well and it didn't take me long to start scoring goals, which is my lifeblood as a striker. That's where everything began for me.

Mitroglou blossomed in Greece with Olympiacos©AFP/Getty Images

You made your UEFA Champions League debut as a substitute against Lazio in 2007, then scored your first Champions League goal against Standard Liège in 2009. Do you remember those games?

Mitroglou: I've played a lot of games since that Champions League match, but my debut certainly was a big deal for me because – for anyone passionate about football – it's the ultimate. You drop everything to watch the Champions League on TV, and getting to play in it is as good as it gets. I remember the goal, but when you're in the middle of a game you don't stop to think: 'Oh it's the Champions League and I just scored a goal.' It's only afterwards that it sinks in. It's a very difficult competition to score in because you're up against the best in the world. Everything happens much faster and you may only get half a chance to score in a game.

The first leg of Benfica's tie against Dortmund was pretty exciting, no?

Mitroglou: They played very fast and they're a great team, but in our stadium it was always going to be very hard for them to win. We did a good job. We kept a clean sheet and scored, as we wanted to, even though we had to deal with some tricky situations. Of course we would have liked to score a second, but 1-0 is OK. How did I feel about scoring the goal? Mostly relief because Dortmund were doing really well. It was very good cross from the corner that our captain headed on, and I got on the end to score and make it 1-0, which was very important for us.

Will returning to Germany for the second leg make it a bit more special for you?

Mitroglou: It will be great to have my family and friends watching the game in the stadium – my father, mother, maybe my grandmother if she feels like going! But I won't try to see any of them because I need to be calm before the game. We're all looking forward to it, and especially all the Benfica fans who will be there. It's going to be awesome.