“Set another milestone”

The 4-2 win against record champions Bayern Munich was a victory for the history books. But even for that, there were “only” three points and everyday league life returns. On Saturday afternoon at 3:30PM (CET), VfL Bochum 1848 will be facing VfB Stuttgart away from home. In the run-up to the match against the Swabians, head coach Thomas Reis answered the journalists’ question at the press conference.

Thomas Reis on…

… the personnel situation: Simon Zoller won’t be available, Elvis Rexhbecaj is suspended after he was shown his fifth yellow card against Bayern. The rest of the squad is fit to play.

… the comeback of Manuel Riemann: Manu is back between the sticks. He’s our regular keeper. So normally he will start on Saturday. We are very glad to have such a strong second goalie in the team, Michael Esser. He also showed a great performance against Bayern last Saturday.

… the training week: The storm did not affect us. We were able to train normally. The atmosphere is good, and the training performance was also very good. I hope that we’ll go into the next games with this level of commitment and intensity.

… the euphoria after the win over Bayern Munich: Of course, we performed brilliantly against Bayern. That’s something that is also often pointed out in the media. But it’s no use to keep that euphoria in our heads forever. It won’t be an easy match this Saturday. We’ll have to show the same level of aggressiveness and intensity – then it will be hard to beat us. We want to gain the points and thus set another milestone on our way to the miracle of keeping the league.

… VfB Stuttgart: The opponent is under great pressure, and they will quite certainly try everything to win. We know what kind of players we’ll be facing. Honestly, VfB Stuttgart should not find themselves in this region of the table. They have a young team with loads of potential.

… VfL’s away record: Our development should continue, also away from home. We already have improved there, too, scoring points against some of our direct rivals. But this development is far from complete. We want to take the next step.

… the performance intensity in the squad: No player can step back, no matter what position he plays. And we can’t afford to do that. We still need some points.