“If we win tomorrow, we’ll be in control of our own destiny”
Pre-match press conference ahead of the Champions League away game against Club Brugge with Achim Beierlorzer and Emil Forsberg
RB Leipzig want to remain in international competition, and in order to do so they need an away win in their upcoming Champions League fixture against Club Brugge.
Due to RBL head coach Jesse Marsch testing positive for Coronavirus in the build-up to the Champions League match against Club Brugge, assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer and Emil Forsberg faced the media in the pre-match press conference.
Achim Beierlorzer:
• “Jesse Marsch and Péter Gulásci are doing well given the circumstances. Both are suffering slightly from symptoms. Of course, we’ll keep in contact with Jesse Marsch during the game. Thanks to modern technology, we have a lot of options and we’re going to use them. We are yet to discuss the intricacies of just how we’ll do that because it’s all happened so quickly, but that will be our focus now. We’re very closely connected as a coaching staff as it is, and we’d obviously love to have Jesse in Brugge with us, but unfortunately, we can’t do anything to change the situation and we’re going to have to play with the hand we’ve been dealt. I will do my best to ensure we can be as successful in this match as we can.
We’ve got an intense game in Brugge in front of 30,000 supporters coming up. We’re already aware of how physical Club Brugge are as a side from the last time we met in Leipzig. They like to isolate their opposite man one-on-one and get stuck into challenges, and we need to be prepared for that on Wednesday. We didn’t cover ourselves in glory in the first half of our last game against them, but in the second half we controlled more of the ball and had chances to get back in it, but we just didn’t play it quite right. We want to build on our second-half performance from that game on Wednesday.
It would be a great achievement if we were able to qualify for the Europa League given the fact we were drawn into an incredibly difficult Champions League group, and we’re going to give it our all to ensure that we stay in some form of European competition. If we win tomorrow, we’ll be in control of our own destiny, because it will take us above the Belgian champions in the table.”
Emil Forsberg:
• “We spoke very honestly and at length about the Hoffenheim match. We know what we did wrong and what we could have done better. The physical part of our game against Hoffenheim wasn’t good and we cannot accept that. We need to be much better in this regard against Brugge.
The game on Wednesday is a great opportunity for us and we absolutely want to take it so that we can keep playing in Europe in 2022. I’m confident that each and every one of us will bring it against Brugge so that we can put in the necessary performance. Above all, we want to play entertaining football for the fans and give back to them by being successful.”