“Football is about entertaining people!”

Marco Rose and RB Leipzig will travel to Sinsheim on Saturday as they look to record their first away league win of the season against TSG Hoffenheim.

The Leipzig head coach spoke at the pre-match press conference ahead of the matchday 13 fixture (5th November, kick off: 15:30 CET).

Die Pressekonferenz vor #TSGRBL

Marco Rose on…

… TSG Hoffenheim:

“We’re coming up against a team that has been well run for years. They always manage to operate at a high level. They play a good style of football, they’re hard to work out and defend against. They’ve developed their vertical approach well and attack with pace; they’re really dangerous on the counter attack. They have some fantastic players who’ll be involved on Saturday and we’re in for a tough task that will demand a lot from us. We have to do our jobs and win the game.”

… Upcoming goals:

“We’re looking forward to the UCL last 16 draw on Monday. In reaching this stage of the competition, we’ve achieved an important goal but we’re hungry for more. In terms of the Bundesliga, we just have to keep pushing in the same direction and work on rising up the table. We’ve not lost in any of our past ten games, but we have to start winning on the road, too. We want to keep moving up the table and extend our good run of form.”

… Christopher Nkunku’s balloon celebration:

“As a father myself, I think it was a really sweet gesture. I’m sure his son wouldn’t have been able to sleep, full of joy and pride for his dad. It was a great thing and I have absolutely no problem with it. It has nothing to do with a lack of discipline. Things like that provide entertainment and at the end of the day, football is about entertaining people.”

Marco Rose on…

… Timo Werner:

“It was a shock for him and for us. He’ll get all the physical and mental support that we can possibly give him. The truth is that he can’t be at the World Cup and therefore is missing what was a huge goal for him. Germany will be without a player who is willing to work and brings a lot of speed and goal threat to the game. He’s also a great personality, which I very important during a tournament. In Timo, you always have someone in the team who you can share a laugh with.

He’s taken the situation really well. We’re really pleased that we’ll have him back in January and that he’ll be fit again. I’m sure he’ll soon be back to his old self.”

… David Raum:

“You have to remember that David Raum was playing for Greuther Fürth not long ago. He had a brilliant season in Hoffenheim. He is a player with a lot of quality and also has a great mentality. He’s made a lot of progress during this run; he’s played a lot and is in a good rhythm. He’ll carry on finding his feet and will be an important player at the World Cup.”

… Dani Olmo:

“Dani had been out for a while. He’s training fully and we want to carry on building up his minutes.”

Team news:

Yussuf Poulsen is back in team training after a muscle injury.
Amadou Haidara‘s availability will be decided on after the final training session on Friday.
Timo Werner will be out for the rest of the calendar year after suffering a tear to the sndesmosis ligament in his left ankle during the game against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Lukas Klostermann and Konrad Laimer are both training individually.
Péter Gulácsi (ACL) is undergoing a rehabilitation programme in Salzburg.