Rose: "A chance to get back on track"

Head coach Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl spoke at the virtual press conference ahead of the Bundesliga away game at RB Leipzig on Saturday evening (18:30 CET).

Head coach Marco Rose on…

… team news: Stefan Lainer won’t be available on Saturday. He’s had problems with his hamstring since the game in Budapest. With Christoph Kramer and Jonas Hofmann, we’ll have to wait and see how it goes tomorrow. Remy Bensebaini is also questionable.

… the upcoming opposition: Like Manchester City, RB Leipzig also have a brilliant coach In Julian Nagelsmann. He stands for attractive football and has brought Leipzig to a good level this year. RB play with great consistence and are in good form. There are clear runs and a good positional play, but there is also a good degree of flexibility. Leipzig have a good pressing game and run high. We’ve watched their last game and know what we’re up against. It will be a big challenge for us. During the tricky spell that we’re currently in, we see every game as an opportunity to get back on track and perform well. We are convinced that we can do that.

… possible rotation: When you see what kind of absences we could have in Leipzig and considering the bigger picture, with the fact that we play Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday, there will be a few changes to the starting XI. We are in an intense spell at the moment, which is very particular because we have a lot of games in a very short time and the teams around us have longer to regenerate.

… the current situation: At the end of the day, what's important is the results because we are in a difficult phase at the moment and the positive results are just not there. However, consistency, conviction and belief are achieved mainly through positive results. For that, there's always a performance that we want to deliver, of course. Against Manchester City, we defended well and were brave, and also tried to play out from the back. Unfortunately, we weren't successful in transitioning forward. We have to do better tomorrow. We didn't recognize a few transition opportunities in Budapest and didn't play the balls. In Leipzig, we want to work on being better in that area.

… Matthias Ginter: I would like to give Matze a rest, but that’s difficult because he's an incredibly important player for us. He always wants to play and go forward, and he has a very high standing in the team. But I will talk to him and the other guys and see how they feel and who we can bring on Saturday or who we have to take off.

… Hannes Wolf: Hannes trains really well and hard and has already put in good performances for us. Of course, he’s not fully found the rhythm that he was hoping for, but we’ll carry on working on that together. It’s important that he stays on it and that we communicate. He will certainly carve his own path.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

… RB Leipzig’s title ambitions: RB have been in and around the top of the table for the past few years. Leipzig have made good opportunities for themselves and of course have the chance to win the league. I said before the season that RB Leipzig would be in the title fight alongside Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. They have put themselves in this situation with the performances and quality that they have.

… the meaning of potentially being in the Europa League again: We’re currently in eighth place in the Bundesliga. But aside from the league, you can also qualify for Europe through the DFB-Pokal. We’re planning for the new season without the expectation that we’ll be competing in Europe. Therefore, the framework for the 2021/22 season is already set. Despite that, qualifying for Europe would of course be nice, especially from a sporting point of view. However, that’s certainly not a given and that's why we're not planning on it. For us, these are successes that we could achieve in the future, but also still can in the present. In addition, by reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, we have received further money that we weren’t planning for. We’ll see what we’re in for next season at the end of the current one.