Marco Rose: “An absolute top game.”

Crunch time!

On Saturday (3.30pm) the game between RBL and BVB will take place at Red Bull Arena. Excitement is inevitable!

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#TSGRBL: Match Day Facts

Marco Rose spoke about the top game at the pre-match press conference. How does our head coach assess the opponent? What is the personnel situation like?

You can find the complete press conference here re-live and the most important statements in the summary.

Personal-Update

• Christopher Lenz is the only player who won’t be available at the weekend.
   
• Yussuf Poulsen had “a good week of training” and is ready for the home game.
   

Marco Rose on…

…the upcoming opponent

• “It’ll be a difficult task. Dortmund has an incredible amount of attacking power, Niclas Füllkrug as a target man and there are a few more buzzing around him. We have to defend well, with high intensity, and compete for every inch. Marcel Sabitzer has developed into a leader and pacesetter at BVB, he gives pressing signals, scores and sets up goals. He’s in absolutely top condition! Dortmund are in form and rightly in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Nevertheless, we’ve seen where they’re vulnerable. We know our strength and how difficult we are to defend against when we get going. We showed at home that we can also defend against top teams.”

…possible changes to the starting XI

• “There’s no reason for changes because we won in Heidenheim and completed the task properly. Nevertheless, we also saw the performances of our substitutes, who played an important role. As always, it’s good for the coach that there are close decisions in some positions. We’ll see how we solve it then.”

…this season’s challenges

• “We’ve mastered a huge upheaval excellently. We had two not-so-easy phases this season, which we got through. We reacted well to the difficult January and never lost our nerve. We are now in a crucial phase and have a difficult game ahead of us. As a coach, you also evaluate developments apart from the results. But it makes little difference whether we come third or fourth, or possibly qualify for the Champions League through fifth place.”

…a European six-pointer

• “Regardless of the outcome of the game on Saturday, we know that a lot is possible with three games left. Dortmund won’t give up, we won’t give up, I don’t think VfB Stuttgart will either. It remains a tight race for ​third and fourthth place.”
   

Marco Rose on…

…player development

• “Benjamin Sesko has developed outstandingly well for us, especially in the second half of the season, after he hadn’t previously been a regular player at Salzburg. Xavi has taken another step in a different league with different opponents. Compared to last season, David Raum is a completely different player who has developed further. We should try to stay together like this now.”

…duels with the top teams

• “We were dissatisfied against Stuttgart, otherwise it was close. We certainly could have got more points from these duels, but we were always there, we were ready! At this level, little things often make a difference. That’s perhaps what we’ve been missing this season: having the consistency in all areas to score even more points in direct duels with the top teams.”

…Yussuf Poulsen

• “It’s always good to have Yussi there. I believe that Benjamin Sesko’s development also has to do with him because the two of them talk a lot about football and Benji absorbs a lot. We’ll see how many minutes Yussi can last against BVB. You know what you’re getting with him: a man with a high willingness to run and make the right decisions. Of course, he also gives us a goal threat from headers and set pieces. He’s one of the few strikers who still really gets to the front post.”

…the U.S. tour in the summer

• “We’ll try to get the most out of the trip in terms of sport. We’ll meet our partner club in New York and we look forward to seeing Emil Forsberg again.”