“We have to remain focused and motivated” – Marco Rose on #FCBRBL

Saturday evening football in Munich!

RB Leipzig are facing FC Bayern München on Saturday (18:30 CEST) at the Allianz Arena and will look to pick up important points to secure Champions League football.

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Marco Rose spoke about the squad situation ahead of the meeting, the season finale and his expectations for the match.

Team news

Timo Werner is currently suffering from a cold. His availability against Bayern will be decided after the final training session.

The rest of the team news can be found here.

Marco Rose on…

…the strengths of Bayern and their style of play:

• “Bayern are a top team with lots of strong individual players. They always have a good coach on the sidelines who tries to bring out the best of the team tactically. They pose many challenges: their power, their depth, their midfield play, and we have to defend all of that, but also look for our opportunities going forward. You can’t let yourselves be overwhelmed by Bayern; we have to get on the ball.

  I don’t think their set-up has always been consistent. In recent weeks, they have struggled with their structure and had recurring problems, but are slowly coming back to their old strength. Now it’s our job to identify those problems from the last few weeks.

  It’s important that we play with confidence, while at the same time accepting that we’ll never be able to completely neutralise Bayern. You have to be brave in Munich and show conviction in every situation both in attack and defence.”

   

…Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel:

• “Thomas was the U19 coach in Mainz when I was still playing. He then became head coach when I was struggling with injuries. He has a very meticulous approach and is detail oriented. He gives his team a lot of input and you can learn a lot from him.

  He always demands 100 percent from his players and focuses on the performance. As a result, he has had an exciting journey: winning the Champions League with Chelsea, lifting the DFB-Pokal and winning Ligue 1 with PSG. He is one of the best coaches in Europe.”

…Thomas Müller:

• “He has a top mentality, both on and off the ball. As long as he is in Munich, he embodies the phrase ‘Mia san Mia’. He triggers the pressing, drags others along with him and finds spaces perfectly.

  Off the pitch, he is down-to-earth and reflective, also when speaking to the media. He can analyse the games so well and get to the heart of them. Overall, he has a great personality, but I would still like to win against him tomorrow.”

…the title race:

• “I don’t know if the attractiveness of the league depends on who becomes champion. Overall, it’s definitely enjoyable when someone else is at the top. Whoever is in first place after 34 games deserves to call themselves champions. There are many teams that are doing very well at the moment. In my eyes, that also says a lot about the league.”

…RBL’s form after Rose’s appointment:

• “I am interested in the 2-point average, everything else is not important for me. We are RB Leipzig and have our objectives. We haven’t achieved anything yet, we have to remain focused and motivated. It’s not about individuals, it’s about the team.

  You need a team that works well together and staff that can achieve important things. It’s also key to have calmness in the team and the environment. You need the fans to support you and push you forward. It’s enjoyable when success is attributed to everyone and not one individual.”

… Willi Orban:

• “Willi is Willi, he knows what he can do. You can see it when you look at the goal against Bremen and his starting position. He shows exceptional quality and mentality. He recognises situations and has experience which both set him apart.

  We have set up differently in many positions, but there is one that is fixed, and that is Willi Orban.”

… Dominik Szoboszlai:

• “Dominik Szoboszlai has developed excellently in Leipzig and knows what he brings to the team and our game. The most important thing is that he focuses on the last three games. We have Bayern, Schalke and the cup final. That’s where the focus has to be.”

… Péter Gulácsi:

• “Péter Gulácsi is in good spirits because he’s back in the locker room, back with the boys and feels that things are moving forward again. He has completed initial sessions on the pitch, which is a boost. The plan is to have him back on board fully for preseason.

  Max Eberl said it well this week: Even when we have no problems, there is one in the goalkeeper position. We know that Pete is our captain and that we can rely on Janis Blaswich. Then we also have Örjan Nyland with us, who gives us a lot and is a top signing.

  It’s good to have healthy competition.”