Ahead of the UEFA Champions League home game against Atalanta on Wednesday 6 November (kick-off 21:00 CET), the 27-year-old answered journalists’ questions on a variety of topics.
Maximilian Mittelstädt on …
… the match against Atalanta: “We’re really looking forward to it. Matches in the Champions League are always special for us as players. In Atalanta we’re facing a team who might not be among the biggest names, but they have a great deal of quality. We’ve got enough self-confidence to be successful in our own stadium with our fans behind us.”
… Atalanta’s attacking prowess: “Atalanta are really good going forward and are always capable of creating chances. It’ll be important for us to work together as a team and to not leave them much space. Our defensive work has progressed well and become more stable over the past few weeks – putting aside the game at Bayern Munich. I’m confident that we can produce a good performance against Atalanta. We’ve often managed to seize control against teams who have strong attacks.”
… on team-mate Alexander Nübel: “He won us the point in Leverkusen. As a team it’s very helpful and good to know that we have a goalkeeper of his quality behind us. We also profit from his footballing ability on the ball. Alex is an outstanding goalkeeper and we’re happy to have him.”
… the workload of playing every three days: “On the whole we’re managing it well. It’s obviously quite intensive both physically and mentally, but we enjoy it and we’ve earned the right to be where we are thanks to our performances.”
… the win over Juventus: “We played really well in that game. We hardly gave Juve any chances and at the other end we created plenty ourselves. That win strengthened us even further as a team. We’re in good form right now and can go into the game against Atalanta with plenty of confidence.”