"A special power and passion"

Champions League night at home! On Tuesday evening at 21:00 CEST RBL take on Belgian team Club Brugge.

Before the game, head coach Jesse Marsch and goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi spoke to the media.

Jesse Marsch on ...

... the first UEFA Champions League home game of the season:

• “It’s our first home match in the Champions League. There will be 23,500 fans in the stadium. We’re looking forward to having them there and want to perform well. Every match at home is crucial in this competition as we want to take points from every game to get through the group.
  
  We always play with a special power and passion in front of our fans, putting in our best performances."

...the opposition:

• "Brugge is a team that has a lot of quality, especially going forward. They have young, talented players and are very aggressive in the final third. They often go man-to-man across the whole pitch so we have to be active with the ball and win our individual battles.
  
  Brugge played exceptionally well against PSG. They made it really difficult for a star-studded line-up, defended well and were cool in front of goal. We won’t underestimate them and we’ll need to perform at our best."

... Christopher Nkunku’s form:

• "We have spoken to Christopher a lot about playing on the counter, and also what he needs to do to play as a striker, a number ten and on both wings. Christopher has no weaknesses. He is young and still wants a lot more. It’s always a good thing when a young player listens to the things we say and also wants to implement them. Working with him is a lot of fun as he is really intelligent and has a lot of potential.”

... his captain Péter Gulácsi:

• "Pete is a super captain for the team and an unbelievable leader. We are happy to have him as our captain and it’s a good thing for the squad. Pete has a lot of experience including with his national team. I find the make-up of our squad really strong – with Pete as captain and a lot of experienced players in there as well."

Péter Gulácsi on ...

... the UEFA Champions League:

• "It’s something special, as players we really look forward to Champions League nights. Last year we had an interesting group but had to play behind closed doors. We have seen that our fans make a big difference, in the wins against Stuttgart and Hertha you could feel the energy coming out of the stands. In the Champions League it might be even greater. Hopefully we can excite them by playing well just as we did on the weekend."

... the quality of the opponent:

• "They have a lot of quality up-front. Noa Lang is a really good player, but the other attacking players are also very good. They play with tempo and are very good technically. In the Belgian league Brugge play with a lot of possession, but they showed against PSG that they can defend well and be successful without as much of the ball. We will have to play well to win the game."

... how they have started the season defensively:

• "Against Bayern and Manchester City we made too many individual errors that lead to goals. The goals were mostly avoidable which is unusual for our game. Small mistakes are punished at this level so we learnt a lot from those games. We are still solid and last weekend we gave up very few chances. I think we will show our stability again against Brugge."

Squad news

• Angelino was sent off against Manchester City so is suspended for the Brugge game.
• Dani Olmo (muscle injury) and Marcel Halstenberg (ankle) both miss out