Hütter: “We need to take on the fight”

Borussia sporting director Max Eberl and head coach Adi Hütter faced the media in a press conference ahead of Sunday’s away game against Union Berlin (15:30 CEST). We have summed up all the key questions from today’s press conference.

Head coach Adi Hütter on…

…the potential return of Breel Embolo and Denis Zakaria: Breel Embolo is being eased back into team training after his injury. We are hoping he will be back to full fitness after the international break. Denis Zakaria has been back in team training for a bit longer now. He’s fit and is an option for Sunday’s game.

…Alassane Plea: Lasso did well in training this week. I’m glad that the injury he picked up in Leverkusen was as severe as those of Marcus Thuram and Stefan Lainer. He will be an option for us this weekend.

…replacements for  Matthias Ginter: His experience makes Matze a key part of this team. But, if we have someone that’s unable to play, then we need to try to replace him to the best of our abilities. It remains to be seen if I choose to go with an older or a younger player alongside Nico Elvedi. Tony Jantschke is a club legend; Jordan Beyer is a very talented player. Ramy Bensebaini is also an option. We also have the option of playing with a back three. But, we still have two days’ time left to make a decision.

…the recent 4-0 defeat in Leverkusen: We were very disappointed about our performance last weekend. I witnessed a team that wasn’t able to win challenges, be aggressive or counter quickly. Our analysis clearly showed what was missing and what we didn’t do well. We spoke about the fact that it will be important for us to be ready to take on the fight on Sunday, as we are up against a tough-tackling side that run hard. Overall, we need to be able to showcase our quality on the pitch each and every weekend.

…the lack of aggressiveness vs. Leverkusen: We proved against Bayern that we’re capable of playing aggressive football. We failed to showcase this against Leverkusen. On Sunday, we are expecting a hard-fought match, which we will need to be ready for. If we manage to do this, then we have the quality that’s needed to get the result we want.

…the upcoming opponent: Union Berlin have drawn both their games so far this season. They will therefore be placing a lot of importance on our game this weekend. They are a tough opponent, but we have the quality needed to beat them, despite the many absences in our squad. We will do everything we can in order to get back on track.

…the goals conceded so far: Conceding five goals in two games is definitely far too many. Of course, we were up against two top sides, but we still can’t permit ourselves to allow this to happen. Just playing good football won’t be enough. We also always need to be ready to take on this fight. If we manage to do that, then I’m confident that we will win many games as a result.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

…the current status of any potential transfers: I read the rumours every day, and there’s a lot of uncertainty there. Nothing has changed, and there have been no serious offers for any of our players. A lot can happen between now and Tuesday night, but I personally don’t think that will be the case.

…the current squad: In April, they were saying that eight players would be leaving the club. Now, we’re at the end of August and all of them are still here. If, by next week, we have managed to keep our squad together, then we will be very well-equipped. It would be good from a sporting perspective. In terms of our finances, we’re well covered for this year.

…Matthias Ginter and Denis Zakaria’s contracts, which expire in 2022: We’ve been dealing with the Coronavirus for one-and-a-half years now and it will continue to be part of our lives for the next while, which means this is a new situation for both the clubs and the players. Of course we don’t want to go into the season with players whose contracts expire at the end of the season. If Matze Ginter and Denis Zakaria are still with us on Wednesday, then we will of course discuss extending their contracts.