The Brazilian appeared on his way out of Real in the summer, but kept his head down and grabbed his chance when coach Bernd Schuster decided to play him earlier this season.

"I have improved a lot and I want to still do important things for me and the team. I feel comfortable in an attacking midfield role and need to exploit my strengths and my qualities," said Baptista.

"I feel appreciated for my work. Schuster can see when a player is in good form and that's when he selects him.

"In preseason, he told me that he would start with the players who had won the League, but that I would also have minutes."