"We need to be brilliant for 90 minutes!"
RBL head coach Marco Rose and Willi Orban speak at the pre-match press conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League fixture against Real Madrid
UCL nights in Leipzig! RBL will welcome defending champions Real Madrid to the RB Arena on Tuesday evening (kick off 21:00 CEST). Ahead of the fifth game in Group 5, head coach Marco Rose and defender Willi Orban spoke to the media at the pre-match press conference.
Marco Rose on ...
... The absences of Benzema, Modric and Valverde:
"I think Real Madrid have a few more fantastic players in their squad who want to play, show what they can do and are ready to jump in. Even if they’re missing a few important players tomorrow, they’re still the defending Champions League winners and have the best squad in the world. They’re a fantastic team.
Just defending Toni Kroos in the build-up phase alone will be difficult in itself."
... The approach against Real Madrid:
"Real Madrid are a team that prefer having the ball than not. It’s a lot of hard work to match them, both in and out of possession. Given their quality, winning the ball high up the pitch will be difficult. They’ll try to play in a way that creates spaces and drag us out of position to try and get their fast wingers into the game.
That means that we have to remain compact, while being active at the same time. When we get the opportunities to his them on the counter, we have to take them."
... Poor away form:
"I don’t have any reasons for it. For example, I think we played well enough to win the game in Mainz; we could and maybe even should have won there. We played well away against Celtic as well.
We knew exactly what was in store for us in Augsburg on Saturday, and that’s how it went. It was really difficult to deal with it. I don’t see any problems with our away performances.
It’s on us to end it. We simply have to get an away win in the league.
Of course it’s always a nicer feeling to play at home with your own support, and we feel the best when we’re at the Red Bull Arena."
... Dani Olmo’s return:
"Dani Olmo got his first minutes against Augsburg and that worked well. Therefore he could get some more in the next game, but he's not an option for 90 minutes. We want to take things slowly."
Willi Orban on...
... Defensive stability:
"I don’t think we have any defensive problems just because of the goals we’ve conceded. We defended brilliantly for 80 minutes in the reverse fixture. Tuesday will be a similar game. We know about Real Madrid's qualities and we also know that we need to be brilliant for 90 minutes.
We have to be efficient and take our chances. If we do that, we have a chance to win."
... Workload given the high amount of midweek games:
"I feel really good. The older I get, the easier it is on my body. This season has been a bit more unique than normal. I’ll have time to relax a bit in November. I enjoy playing more than training."
Team news:
- Timo Werner has overcome illness and has completed some light training. He is available for the Real Madrid game but will not play 90 minutes.
- Péter Gulácsi (ACL), Lukas Klostermann and Konrad Laimer (syndesmoseband) are unavailable.