"An exciting draw" - reaction to the UCL draw

Borussia will face Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. We got some reaction following the draw on Monday.

Sporting director Max Eberl: In our last two Champions League campaigns we had Manchester City in our group. Now we’ll face them in the round of 16. It’s a really exciting draw. They’re a great side that have been put together brilliantly over the years. Nonetheless, as a club like Borussia Mönchengladbach, you go there and try to use your chances, even though there might not be many. But there are chances in every game of football. We’ll go into it without fear, we’re looking forward to it. Pep Guardiola has been at Manchester City for a while now. He’s won the league with them, but he’s yet to win the Champions League there. I think that’s City and Pep Guardiola’s big goal. We deserved to get through our difficult group, which is why I don’t think Manchester City will be shouting ‘hooray’. They know that it was tough playing against us in the past, and we’ve come further as a club since then. When these knockout games come round in February and March, we want to try and beat Manchester City with more confidence and a better performance than we showed in Madrid.

Head coach Marco Rose: It’s a huge challenge to face Manchester City, but we’re looking forward to it nonetheless. I have to admit that I’ve not seen Manchester City play much this year. We’ve had lots of games of our own and we’ve been busy looking at other opponents. But when you talk about Manchester City and head coach Pep Guardiola, you obviously know what’s in store. They have a really clear identity on the pitch. They also have great individual quality. As we come closer to the game, we’ll make sure we’re well prepared. We’ll look for our opportunities and see where we can hurt them. It’s a knockout game and we go into it wanting to progress. City have lots of players in their ranks who’ve already played games like this, whereas it’ll be a new experience for us. Some of the boys have already played against Manchester City, but now it’s all about winning the tie. 

Stefan Lainer: Manchester City are a top side. There’s not much more to say. Pep Guardiola is one of the best coaches in the world. That’s why it’ll be a really interesting challenge for us, and it’ll demand everything of us. 

Christoph Kramer: All the sides we could’ve draw in the Champions League round of 16 would’ve been strong opponents, and we got one of them in Manchester City. We’ve played against them twice in recent history, which is why it wasn’t the draw I really wanted. But it’ll be a great challenge for us, and we’re really looking forward to it.

Jonas Hofmann: Manchester City is a household name and one of the hardest opponents we could’ve been drawn against from the five. But I think, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter who we’ve drawn. When we last played against City, we drew 1-1 at home and lost heavily away (4-0). If we have a good day, anything is possible and we can beat most sides. We’ve already shown that. We need to put the work in so that we’re at our best for those two days; we need to give it our all. I think they’ll be great games for all Borussia fans, and we all look forward to them.