Rose: “We need passion, courage and a willingness to suffer”

At the digital press conference ahead of the Champions League last-16 first leg against Manchester City, head coach Marco Rose and left-back Oscar Wendt discussed the squad, excitement ahead of the game and the location of the tie, which will take place at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…the situation regarding personnel: Torben Müsel will be out as he is still in rehab training, and Famana Quizera still hasn’t rejoined training either. Otherwise, all the boys are ready and I think that they will all be fresh come tomorrow. None of them will be tired, physically or mentally. We’ve had enough time to recover this week.

…the excitement for the Manchester City match: I don’t think that I need to motivate the lads in any way. They’ve earned this evening. I hope that the players reflect again on what they have already achieved in the group stage and that they approach this game with passion and courage, but also a willingness to suffer. We will try to always make inroads going forward. If my team plays to the best of their ability tomorrow then a good result is absolutely possible.

…what the match means: When you’re Borussia Mönchengladbach and you’re playing a Champions League last-16 match against Manchester City, there’s nothing to lose really. It’s basically just a big thing for the club to be playing in the Champions League and we have always said that we want to prove ourselves and show what we can do. We’ve done that really well so far. The lads should enjoy the game tomorrow evening, that’s part of the occasion. But they also have to be ready to show what they can do. Above all, it’s about defending well and playing with courage. If there’s one thing that City really don’t like, then it’s not having the ball.

…the match taking place in Hungary: Obviously it’s hard to create a home atmosphere in a foreign stadium. We are playing in a stadium that we don’t know yet, but after our arrival in Hungary we will go and check out the stadium this evening.

…City boss Pep Guardiola: There’s a glut of great coaches in football and Pep Guardiola has really influenced the game in his many years as a manager. He is simply world-class. He is an extraordinary coach who has had an unbelievable career so far. He’s won lots of titles and it’s really fun to watch his teams play.

Oscar Wendt on…

…the excitement for the Champions League round of 16: We’re massively excited for the battle with Manchester City. They have world-class players in every position. We have the chance to mix it with possibly the best team in the world right now, but that is exactly what we want. We train every day and play football to be as successful as possible. It’s just fun to be taking part in such a top competition like the Champions League.

…the previous meetings with Manchester City: This is different from the previous games against Manchester City because we’re now playing them in the last 16 and not in the group stage. When we got drawn against City, I thought that it would be two great games, but I think that it would have been difficult no matter who we faced in the last 16. The best 16 teams in Europe are all there and we are playing against the Sky Blues. We have the chance to show that we belong at this level. We have already shown that we can play good football in the group against Real Madrid, Inter and Shakhtar. We all hope that we can continue to show that tomorrow in Budapest.

…the most recent game against Mainz and the tasks ahead: Obviously it hurts to lose, but tomorrow we’re straight back at it against City. The nice thing about football is that you get the opportunity to put things right and get revenge straight away. The busy schedule also has advantages for us players – we get to play more. We are looking forward to the weeks ahead and we see it as a chance to perform well and press forward.