Rose: “The start of a new chapter”

During a virtual press conference in Milan, head coach Marco Rose and Marcus Thuram faced the media ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Inter Milan (21:00 CEST).

Marco Rose on…

…the excitement ahead of the Champions League: We’re very much looking forward to the Champions League, but that can’t be all. We have some big challenges facing us. We’re opening our campaign against a top team.

…the personnel: Not much has changed in terms of our personnel. Valentino Lazaro returned to team training for the first time, but naturally, he didn’t travel to Milan. It’s too early for Denis Zakaria and László Bénes as well. It’s important that the three of them continue to work hard on their comebacks in Mönchengladbach so that they can return soon to feature for us.

…the upcoming opponents: Anyone who’s checked in on Inter Milan recently will know that they are currently one of the top clubs in Europe. They are amongst the very top in Europe in all areas. Inter have a lot of individual talent, have a defined style of play and clear instructions from head coach Antonio Conte. Their game depends a lot on Romelu Lukaku, but they have a lot of individual talent surrounding him as well. The team defend well and are aggressive in attack. Inter also have a lot of experience playing internationally. A huge challenge awaits us tomorrow, but we’re up for it. We have a young and hungry team and will do everything we can to get a result. Despite everything else, we want to create chances and be fearless. We need to make things unpleasant for our opponents for the entire game. But, I think we’re already able to eye up their strength a bit. 

…Inter’s tactics: Inter’s style of play is very similar to last season. The team usually play with a back three and wingbacks. They change things up in midfield every now and then, sometimes playing with a defensive midfielder and two central midfielders, or with two defensive midfielders and an attacking midfielder. That varies sometimes during the game. Brozovic plays both positions in a high press. Milan have clear instructions on what to do when they’re up against teams playing with a back three or a back four. Antonio Conte is a coach who gives clear direction and expects it to be executed. The team try to implement this as best as they can. Inter remain one of the top teams in Europe, in my opinion.

…Inter’s individual strength: In this regard, you have to mention Inter’s attack with Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku. But, Marcelo Brozovic also covers a lot of ground, and is extremely active and aggressive. Nicolò Barella is a young, very talented player. They bought Achraf Hakimi, who we know from the Bundesliga, as well as Arturo Vidal who used to play for Bayern München. Inter simply have a lot of very talented players. Although the club have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, they have always managed to field a top-quality side. They’re just a really good team.

…discussions with Valentino Lazaro: Of course we spoke with Tino about Inter. He was able to confirm some of the things that we as a coaching staff had picked up on. He raved about Inter, both about the team and the club in general.

…Inter head coach Antonio Conte: When he was in charge of Italy, you saw him do innovative things with a back three. Antonio Conte places a high importance on defining spaces and using the length of the pitch. His team know what to do when they are out of possession and have a set style of play that is difficult to defend against.

…the conditions surrounding the game: The conditions are the same for everyone. There will be 1,000 fans in the stadium tomorrow. Of course, we would have liked there to be more.

…the history between Inter and Borussia: Football is not about getting revenge for something. I know that the infamous ‘can incident’ in the round of 16 at the 1971 European Cup is still a big deal for our vice-president Rainer Bonhof, who was part of the team back then. He felt like it was unfairly handled at the time. We’ve obviously spoken about it. But, after so many years, we can also view it with a bit of humour. These two upcoming games against Inter represent a new chapter in our joint history.

…the pre-game routine: We decided to hold our final training session in Mönchengladbach in order to be able to get it all done here and to save ourselves the stress. The boys will hopefully get a good night’s sleep tonight and dream of us getting a win before we do our normal run-through tomorrow. We will eat breakfast as a team and go for a walk. We can then start warming up and getting loose in the hotel. Then we will refuel and get some rest. We will do our normal pre-game talk and discuss some final things. Then we’ll head to the stadium and try to get off to a good start.

Marcus Thuram on…

…his Champions League debut: Wednesday evening will be a dream come true for me, to be playing in the Champions League. Playing in such a stadium, against a top team is what you live for as a professional footballer.

…his country of birth, Italy: Although I was born in Italy and lived here for nine years, this game doesn’t feel any different or like a home game to me. Every Champions League game is something special to me.

…the upcoming opponents: Inter Milan have several good players, both on offence and in defence. We will see what we can do in order to make life difficult for them.