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Nadiem Amiri: “Want to keep up the momentum in Hamburg”
Nadiem, let’s take a quick look back at Tuesday evening again. How was it?
Nadiem Amiri: “It was simply an incredible night and an amazing match, especially the first half. We played brilliantly and everyone did really well. We had Wednesday off so I watched the highlights again. I’ll have to find a time to watch those first 45 minutes and relax since I spent the rest of my day off in Frankfurt to clear my head a little bit.
You ran 12.22 kilometres, 1.6km of which you did at high speed. How are you feeling physically having had two days to recover?
Amiri: I can definitely still feel it. It was an extremely tiring match and it really took everything out of me. I even had a sip of Coca Cola from the sidelines in the 85th minute otherwise I might have passed out. I simply couldn’t give anymore (laughs). But I will definitely be feeling 100% by Saturday.
A victory like that against Bayern will definitely give you strength for the rest of the season. Will it provide you with that final push you need?
Amiri: Definitely. We’ve finally beaten Bayern and it wasn’t just lucky, we were really impressive and put in a very strong performance at a point in the season where Bayern were comfortably winning every game. That really shows how strong we have been this season. Now we know that we really are capable of beating any team. It’s really very simple but we can’t start celebrating. We want to build on that momentum in Hamburg.
The Hanseaten have already picked up 17 points in the second half of the season. This is going to be a tough game…
Amiri: Without doubt. They have finally got going since the winter break and they are a team with a lot of quality. We are very familiar with their coach and they also have a number of very strong individuals. The fans also really get behind them which makes for a special atmosphere. They are always solid at the back and will certainly not make it easy for us, so we know we are in for a real test.
You drew 2-2 with HSV in the reverse fixture. What can you take away from that game?
Amiri: It wasn’t such a great game although we did create a lot of chances and could have won it. Too many individual errors at the back let us down which then led to their goals. We want to and can definitely do better in Hamburg.
What is your objective for this fixture?
Amiri: The same as it always is. We want the three points. We never go onto the pitch with any other aim. It makes no sense to already be satisfied with only getting a point before you’ve even played the game. We always want to win.
You are in third place after 27 matches. Everywhere the word “Europe” is coming up. How are you dealing with that?
Amiri: Of course we all understand the position we are in. We’ve earned our place at the top of the table but I try to put that to one side. We will continue to give it everything in these final seven games of the season and do everything we can to stay high up in the league. But there is no point in thinking about matchday 34 at the moment. I’m just thinking about Hamburg.
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