“I hope everyone has someone like Baka in their life” | OneFootball

Blue skies over the training pitch, plenty of RBL fans at Cottaweg – and right in the middle of it all is Castello Lukeba, looking visibly relaxed as he spoke to the media after the public session.

Four days on from the late 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund, the frustration at letting the win slip is still there – but the Frenchman is already looking ahead: clear-headed, positive and fully focused.

That killer instinct

“Honestly, we deserved more against Dortmund,” Castello said. He felt the team had enough opportunities to put the game to bed earlier – “but that’s football. If you play a top team and you’re not ruthless enough, they can come back.”

One word kept coming up in his assessment: details. “In big games, it’s the small things that make the difference,” he stressed – things the team need to keep working on together in the coming weeks.

"It's on all of us"

Asked about the recurring late goals Leipzig have been conceding, Castello refused to point the finger at any individual. Quite the opposite: “That last goal is on all of us, because we’re a team. We celebrate together, we lose together.”

With plenty of new and young players in the group, it’s about dealing with those moments better as a unit – staying clear-headed and making the right decisions when games get tight.

"I like it when everyone’s happy"

Anyone who watches Castello play often sees him smiling. “I like it when everyone’s happy. I try to bring good energy into the dressing room,” the 23-year-old said. That mood was underlined when Johan Bakayoko “crashed” the interview, jumping in, asking questions, teasing Castello and keeping things light. 

Castello, for his part, made a point of thanking “Baka” for the support he showed during his injury spell: “He helped me when I couldn’t play. Baka is a really good guy – I hope everyone has someone like Baka in their life.”

They watched games together, spent time together, talked “as friends do”. And when Bakayoko cut in again, Castello just grinned: “He’s pretty funny as well.”

The message is clear: win at HSV

Castello isn’t allowing much room for self-pity after the draw with Dortmund. His focus quickly shifted to the next task: “We’re going to Hamburg to win. That’s the goal.” He knows it won’t be easy – “but we have the quality and we’re ready mentally”.

And when it comes to the race for Europe, he was just as direct: “We have to win games. Every match is tough, but we want to get back into the Champions League.”

Ein Ziel, das bleibt

Zum Schluss wird er noch auf die Nationalmannschaft angesprochen – und auch da klingt es wie ein roter Faden: Schritt für Schritt, erst als Team liefern, dann kommt der Rest. Für Castello ist die WM „mehr als ein Traum“, sagte er – „das Ziel“. Aber zuerst zähle, „mit der Mannschaft gut zu sein“.

Sonnenschein, Teamhumor, klare Worte: Castello Lukeba hat nach dem öffentlichen Training nicht nur über Fußball gesprochen – sondern über das, was man oft nicht in Statistiken sieht. Und trotzdem entscheidet es Spiele.

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