Goalkeepers and a Werner comeback - Marco Rose on #RBLFCB
Leipzig head coach Marco Rose in the pre-match press conference ahead of matchday 16 | Werner ready for Bayern
Bundesliga football is ready to return in 2023! On Friday (20:30 CET), FC Bayern travel to the Red Bull Arena for the biggest game of matchday 16.
Leipzig head coach Marco Rose spoke about Timo Werner’s fitness level, current preparations and the goalkeeper situation for the Bayern match.
In short, you need more than a lot to go right against Bayern – you need everything to go right!
Marco Rose on…
…the restart:
“The feeling is very positive with all of us in the team. We haven’t had a competitive game for more than two months now, and any of the Bundesliga coaches will say that his team is ready and has prepared well. But we have actually prepared well. (laughs)
Come Friday night, it is finally about performance and points again. After that, we’ll see where we stand. Our aim is clear: we want to perform well on the pitch and win the game. We know that it will take a top performance – we are ready.”
…the first half of the season:
“We are coming off a strong first half of the season, but we can’t just rely on that. We have to work hard for everything again and that’s what we’ll do, regardless of the outcome of the game against Bayern. Of course we want to start with a good performance and we back ourselves to do so!”
…FC Bayern Munich and that little bit of luck:
“When it really matters, Bayern are exceptionally good. You always need a top performance and lots of courage against Bayern – and of course that little bit of luck at times. But we don’t want to rely on luck. We want to produce a performance that will increase our chances of victory.
We have to be very resilient and passionate in defence. The team needs to be willing to suffer and deal with not having the ball for a few minutes at a time. We know how strong they are in transition. On the other hand, it’s also obvious that we have to take advantage of our scoring opportunities.
In short, you need more than a lot to go right against Bayern – you need everything to go right!”
More news
It doesn’t matter whether Janis or Ny is in goal tomorrow; we have a lot of confidence in both.
... Timo Werner:
“We’re optimistic about Timo. He’s been in training and played 50 minutes in the friendly against FK Mladá Boleslav.”
…the goalkeeper situation:
“We have a good feeling about Janis Blaswich. He was fully involved in training yesterday. We'll make a decision after training today. We’re relaxed about it, because if Janis isn’t available, we still have [Ørjan] Ny[land]. Ny has played a lot of minutes in friendlies and developed really well since arriving here. It doesn’t matter whether Janis or Ny is in goal tomorrow; we have a lot of confidence in both.”
…the Handball World Championship:
"I love handball! It's a cool sport, with cool guys - ladies as well, of course. I know one of them quite well. (laughs)
I'm following the World Championship, too, of course, and was delighted to see that we comfortably made it into the main round. Despite having already qualified for the next round, the team went one better against Algeria and made a real statement.
I wish Germany only the best and keep my fingers crossed. The boys have what it takes to go all the way!"
Team news:
- Timo Werner is back training with the team and has already shown his goal-scoring quality in the last friendly before the league restarts in 2023. The striker is available again.
- David Raum is training with the team again, but the left-back was not able to play in the last friendly.
- Janis Blaswich had to train individually due to a calf issue. A decision will be made after the final training session as to whether the goalkeeper will play against FC Bayern.
- Abdou Diallo has also trained individually in the last few days, but will take part in the final training session before the match. Afterwards, it will be decided whether the defender is an option for the Bayern game.
