RB Leipzig host TSG Hoffenheim on Bundsliga matchday 30. Kick off comes at 15:30 CEST on Saturday.
RBL head coach Marco Rose spoke to the media ahead of the game and discussed the upcoming opponents, TSG head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and next week’s DFB-Pokal game against SC Freiburg.
Rose also greeted schoolchildren who were allowed to attend the press conference as part of Girl’s Day.
Team news
- Josko Gvardiol has not trained with the team this week after suffering a knock against Leverkusen.
- Dani Olmo took a knock to the knee against Leverkusen and trained individually on Thursday.
- Benny Henrichs had a hip problem and a minor muscle injury after the Leverkusen game. The club hope that he’ll recover in order to take part in the final training session ahead of Saturday’s game. So far, he’s been unable to train with the team.
- Konni Laimer had a heel injury but was able to rejoin team training on Thursday.
- All the latest team news, including updates on Xaver Schlager, Peter Gulacsi and the rest of the team can be found in our team news update.
Marco Rose on …
… Team news:
- “The week hasn’t been straight forward because we’ve had quite a few players who haven’t been able to train and have been treated for a few knocks. We’re hoping that they’ll be able to take part in and complete the final session.
We’re expecting that a lot of the guys who have had knocks will be able to take part in the final session, but we’re keeping an eye on it.”
… TSG Hoffenheim:
- “We need to take the game on and be aggressive in the duels on the day. TSG have embraced their fight for survival. The players are there for each other and that shows out on the pitch.
They’re going into a lot of duels and are covering a lot of distance. Therefore, our job is to match this intensity and aggression. They have an easy outlet due to Bebou’s pace. They often attack down the right with Kaderabek, so we’ll be ready for that.”
They’re building something there; you can see that they’re a real team.
… Pellegrino Matarazzo
- “I’ve known Pellegrino for quite a while. We met when we were starting our coaching course. He did a really good job in Stuttgart and he had the team playing some good football. It was always a really difficult away trip.
He’s adapted in Hoffenheim and he knows that he’s taken over a team in a relegation battle. Pellegrino firstly focused on the basics and has set up his ream really well.
There are elements of his Stuttgart team that you can recognise in his team now, obviously with different players. The first priority for them is to get stuck in and break quickly.
After a difficult start, they’ve found some form recently with three wins as well as a draw in Munich. They’re building something there; you can see that they’re a real team and a real unit. It’s a big ask for us to face such a unit, but we’re a good unit too and we have our own quality.
I really appreciate the work that Pellegrino has done.”
… The season run-in and pressure:
- “We’re used to it; it’s nothing new for us. It’s a matter of perspective. If someone had told us after our poor start to the season that we’d still have a real chance of qualifying for the Champions League, we’d all have been pleased.
We have our objectives and are doing everything we can to achieve them. We’re concentrating on what we can do, rather than what we might not manage.
We need a good performance on Saturday and consequently a good result, because we played well in Leverkusen but didn’t get the result to match.”
Public training ahead of #RBLTSG | 25th April
… Being clinical:
- “We’ve shown that we’re capable of doing that and we know that we can do it. When you also look at the table, you see that we need to be clinical in our own game if we want to achieve our goals. Despite some absentees, we’ve had a positive and focused week of training.
At the end of the day the focus is turning the switch to “on” at the weekend, embracing the task that’s in store for us and going about it successfully. We need to find the right approach, focus on ourselves and trust our quality.
However, quality alone won’t be enough. We have to be clinical and aggressive on the day. You can work on these behaviours in training to be able to produce it on the day.
It’s like school; if you study hard, you’ll do better. If you don’t do it consistently, sometimes you’ll do okay and sometimes you won’t. It’s the same in football. We know that. It’s up to us now to do it consistently over the long term.“
… Balancing the league and the cup:
- “Every game is important. We know the old saying that the next game is always the most important one, and for us, that’s the Hoffenheim game this weekend.
We’ll pick the team to win on the weekend, and then we’ll look at the rest afterwards.”
… Potential team rotation due to the midweek game:
- “We’re approaching the end of the season and sometimes players need a rest. But our players are in great shape and are fit for the run-in. I’m confident that we can get our job done.
It’s all about winning games; then we’ll be happy and our fans are happy. That creates a happy environment and everything is good.”
More on #RBLTSG
Opponent analysis: TSG Hoffenheim
