“He will play tomorrow” | Pre-match press conference before Young Boys at home

Tuesday was a busy one in Leipzig!

Ahead of our final Champions League group game of the season against Young Boys (18:45 CET), the players trained for the final time and then Marco Rose and Nicolas Seiwald spoke to the media at the pre-match press conference.

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We’ve summarised the most important quotes from the press conference.

You can also watch the first 15 minutes of training below.

Squad news | 12th November

• Timo Werner was back in training after his adductor issue and will be in the squad tomorrow.
   
• El Chadaille Bitshiabu will play in the UEFA Youth League tomorrow against Young Boys instead.

For more team news, click here.

Marco Rose on…

…the importance of tomorrow’s game 

• “The lads want to win the game, we want to win the game. A Champions League game is always important, so we will take tomorrow’s match really seriously and try to get the victory for our fans at home.

  We will obviously bring in a number of fresh faces. Young Boys are a good team for us to test ourselves against. There are a few lads who will get the chance to impress. Lots of players here have earned the opportunity to play over the past few weeks and months.

  I won’t be handing out any gifts, but I will understand if someone takes a bit longer to settle into tomorrow’s match.”

   

…Peter Gulacsi

• “He’s extremely excited to be back in goal for the first time in over a year at his home ground, in front of his own fans and with his mates. He’s highly motivated and really focused on tomorrow’s match.”

   

…Nicolas Seiwald’s role

• “He will play tomorrow, he totally deserves to. Nici has mainly done really well when he’s played. We know what he can do. He regularly shows his potential in training and during games. Nevertheless, it’s clear that he needs a bit of time to find his feet here. It’s a new league and and a new city for him – that’s a lot for a young lad.

  He’s extremely reliable, which is why we didn’t have to think twice about throwing him into the big games in the Champions League. I’m confident we’ll have a lot of fun with him in the future.”

Marco Rose on…

…Timo Werner’s fitness

• “He’s had to work hard on his own. He trained with the team for the first time again today, but he’ll still be in the squad tomorrow and is an option for the game. He’s not lost too much of his fitness over the last two weeks. It’s good to have him back.”

   

…El Chadaille Bitshiabu

• “He will play in the UEFA Youth League tomorrow against Young Boys to get his first competitive minutes of the season. We’ve got two games left in 2023 after this one and no real injury concerns, so I imagine we’ll see him play for the first team for the first time in 2024.

  He’s a young player and has lots of talent, as well as real physicality. Nonetheless, he has to learn a lot when it comes to the tactical side of the game.”

Nicolas Seiwald…

…his situation in Leipzig

• “The tempo of Bundesliga games is different than in Austria – everything’s a lot quicker here. I need to get used to that still, and I’m trying to use every training session and every game to adjust to it.

  Off the pitch, I’m good and I feel right at home here in Leipzig. It’s a lovely city, and I’m not sad about not being back at home during the run-up to Christmas.”

   

…the opponents from Switzerland

• “We’re expecting a good and aggressive opponent. Like the coach said, we’ll have a new-look team on the pitch, but we still want to show that we’re RB Leipzig and that we want to win the game.”

   

…things learned in the Champions League

• “I learnt a lot against Manchester City. We were playing against perhaps the best team in the world and against the best players. Every mistake is punished, but that allows you to learn. Personally, I got to pick up things from Rodri during the game, in particular what he does with the ball at his feet. You simply cannot appreciate how teams like that play until you’ve experienced it yourself.

  Just discussing things on a tactic board isn’t enough. Tomorrow is another game and another chance for me to impress, which is just what I’ll try and do.”