Kevin Trapp: Competing against Real is as high as you can get

"We're really up for playing on the biggest European stage," the Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp tells UEFA.com, with the UEFA Super Cup showdown against Real Madrid heralding his team's first UEFA Champions League campaign.

Are you excited about the prospect of facing Real Madrid?
I feel nothing but joy at having the chance to play against such a team. [Being able to win a title this] early in the season against such a renowned team – it doesn't get any better than that. And when you get to compete with a team that has won the Champions League 14 times, that's as high as you can get.

Did you think at the start of your career that you would be where you are today?
Back when I went to Kaiserslautern, it was all very far away. Of course, I had ideas in my head about what level I wanted to reach and where I wanted to play, but as I said, it was all so far in the future.

How did your experience in Paris change you?
I came from a mid-table club that had not really competed for the title to one which wanted to win the Champions League. I was confident enough; otherwise, I'd not have done it. But I'd say in retrospect, with the experience I have today, that I was lacking one or two aspects of my personality at the start to feel as at ease there as I did at the end.

All these things that I learned abroad: a new language, how to integrate yourself with new players. I took all this to Frankfurt and can appreciate much more how it is when players come here from another country.