#PFCTSG Preview - "Get back on the plane with three points"

JULIAN NAGELSMANN ON...

... the opposition:

We are going to come up against a team who can and want to play football and who are confident having the ball in their own half. We have have looked at footage from their opening three league games and the game against Istanbul. They are a team full of Brazilians who like to take risks. They play with a lot of pace down the right wing. They stayed deep in Istanbul and didn’t counter but they can do both. We have a plan to go and beat that. It will now be all about executing that and getting on the plane with three points on Friday. 

... the squad:

We have not come here with a complete squad and we are not just talking about those who injured. We have a lot of good player with us and it will be interesting to see who can step up from the under-23s, players like Justin Hoogmas, Robin Haxk or Meris Skenderovic. I am looking forward to seeing how they present themselves. Maybe even from the start. Sandro Wagner has a cold and needs time to recover. Florian Grillitsch is suffering with a bit of a stomach bug, while Nadiem Amiri still has his foot injury. Those pains will mean those players won’t play a part, while Serge Gnabry injured himself in a training game on Wednesday and he will also miss out with a thigh strain. Benjamin Hübner has a muscle problem. I wanted to bring him off on Saturday but the situation didn’t really allow it. As a result he will miss tomorrow. Apart from that there are no new worries. I think the rest are all already known (Robert Zulj, Adama Szalai, Kerem Demirbay and Ermin Bicakcic).

... the sporting outlook:

I don’t want to make us favourites for this clash. That’s the great thing about football. The game always starts at 0-0. If we win then perhaps I can say in hindsight whether or not we have beaten the favourites.

... the sporting outlook II:

The situations here are good. We can just concentrate on football. I enjoyed the bus journey from the airport. There are a lot of forests and I saw a lot of good-looking paths for mountain-biking. The hotel is good, the food is fantastic and we’re going to play in a modern stadium. Everything is perfect.

 ... the sporting outlook III:

Ludogorets have more experience than us, but I think experience only plays a part when everything else is equal. That’s when it can make all the difference. Ideas on the pitch can be more important than experience, as can the right attitude and the quality of the players on the pitch.

HEAD TO HEAD

TSG will play in the Ludogorets Arena – the home oft he Bulgarian Champions – for the first time on Thursday evening.

OPPONENTS FORM

Dietmar Dimitrov’s team are yet to lose in the league and sit second in the table with 24 points after ten games, with only ZSKA Sofia ahead of them. They kicked of their Europa League campaign by picking up a point against Basaksehir. Everything is rosy in Razgrad so far this season.

KEY DUEL

Ludogorets dominate in the Bulgarian First Division with quick wingers and Claudiu Keseru up front. TSG will have to make sure they can control the opponents and remain active and alert in the middle. That’s where the hosts can be put under pressure and TSG can make the difference. But getting hold of the ball when the opposition is building from the back means the route to goal becomes smaller.

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