Ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk (18.55 CET), head coach Marco Rose and midfielder Jonas Hofmann attended a virtual press conference on Monday evening.
Marco Rose on...
…the upcoming opposition: Anyone who is familiar with Shakhtar Donetsk and their history knows that it is a club that is a regular competitor in European competition – last year, for example, they reached the Europa League semi-finals. Shakhtar defend really well, they work hard and stay tight and compact without the ball. Obviously, we are also aware of the quality that our opponents have in attack and in their build-up play, so we have to be really switched on. We respect our opponents, but obviously we also see this as an opportunity to get a good result.
…Gladbach’s own style: Tactically, we are very flexible. The lads can play with either a back three or a back four. In essence, though, it’s less about the formation and more about the principles that we want to have out on the pitch. Fundamentally we want to be compact, defend aggressively, and transition well. Against such a strong and defensively sound opponent we will also need to be creative with the ball, though. That is really important.
…the start to the UCL campaign: The Champions League is a great challenge for us – it’s something that we’ve been really looking forward to. We have now played two matches and taken two points, but we’ve had a bad time of it so far. Now we want to continue on our way, and the results obviously give us the momentum and the self-confidence to go to Donetsk and put ourselves in a good position in this group.
…how the group is shaping up: It wasn’t necessarily expected that our game against Shakhtar on matchday three would be a clash between first and second place – especially when you consider the strength of the other two sides in the group. There aren’t many matches left now, so obviously every fixture is an important chance to work towards finishing in the place that we are hoping for and that we have deserved.
…conceding late on against Inter and Real Madrid: It doesn’t unsettle us or make us nervous. It was a period in which we ended up drawing a few games that we had led late on. Nevertheless, we did a lot right and still ended up taking a point from each match. We showed in the Bundesliga against Leipzig last weekend that we are able to keep clean sheets and that we can see out a game successfully, so it’s not something that we are thinking about too much.
…what he has learned from Shakhtar’s first two fixtures: Shakhtar offer a lot more than just good defending. They have plenty of very good footballers in their ranks who defend hard but who also want to create. In the first two Champions League matches, we have already seen how they can hurt even stronger teams when they have the ball. We want to try and play an open game in which we can swing the match in our favour in the decisive moments. For that, we need a really good performance.
Jonas Hofmann on…
...Borussia’s Champions League ambitions: When that anthem plays before the match, it always gives you goosebumps. We have made it clear that this competition isn’t just an adventure for us – we want to play a big role in it, too. We are not giving anything away. We are desperate to taste more success.
...the first two group games: We can take a lot of confidence from the first two Champions League matches. We took two great teams, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, right to the brink of defeat. That speaks volumes about us and our mentality. We don’t hide when we face big names, we play with courage, and that’s what we want to show again against Shakhtar Donetsk.
…the penalty-taking hierarchy: There isn’t really a set order. Whoever is feeling confident gets a crack at it. Sometimes only one of the three designated takers is out on the pitch, which makes things obvious. The only thing that matters is that the ball hits the back of the net, regardless of whether it is me, Lars Stindl or Ramy Bensebaini who takes it.
…the potential physical advantage: Physically, we may be able to dominate Shakhtar a bit. They have smaller, more agile players in their squad, so we will try and use the set pieces to our advantage. In recent weeks we have been particularly successful from corners.
