"We accept our role as favourites!"
RB Leipzig take on Hannover 96 in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday evening (18:30 CEST) | Head coach Domenico Tedesco spoke to the media ahead of the quarter final | Whole squad available
Head coach Domenico Tedesco on...
… UEFA’s decision:
I welcome the decision. It’s good and important that this decision was taken by UEFA and FIFA. It wouldn’t have been right to allow national associations, clubs and players to make that decision.
I know Spartak Moscow well. We took over the club when they were in 12th place and finished the season in second place. We qualified from a difficult group in the Europa League and reached the last eight. It’s a shame for players and staff that I created close friendships with. But it was the right decision to cancel the tie.
... The role of favourites in the DFB-Pokal:
On paper Hannover 96 are one of the weaker sides, but they’ve picked up 17 points over the past nine games – that’s an average of 1.9 per game. If they played like that over the course of the whole season, they’d be at the top end of the table. Their head coach Christoph Dabrowski took over with Hannover in the relegation places and under him, they’re picking up points like one of the top sides in the second division.
Christoph Dabrowski is a good guy and a good coach. We faced each other in the semi-finals of the U17 German youth tournament. The games were exciting.
We don’t want to portray Hannover like a Champions League side, but we have a clear idea of the kind of team we’re going up against. And in Dominik Kaiser, they have a player in their ranks who knows our club really well.
We can deal with the role of favourites and we’re happy to take on that tag. It would be a disappointment for all of us if we don’t lift the DFB-Pokal. We want to win all of our games. We know it won’t be easy – we saw that against Babelsberg and Rostock, but we’re prepared.
... The state of the pitch in Hannover:
We’ve spoken about that as a team and we asked ourselves the question of whether a bad football pitch can be a reason why we can’t reach a semi-final. The answer came pretty quickly. The game won’t be easy on that pitch, but that is not an excuse.
It’s done him good to have been in the matchday squad for the past two games, and it’s also done the team good that he’s been involved again.
... The possible return of Marcel Halstenberg:
The whole squad is available to us at the moment. Marcel Halstenberg is also fit. It’s done him good to have been in the matchday squad for the past two games, and it’s also done the team good that he’s been involved again. It’s definitely a possibility that he plays a few minutes in Hannover.