#TSGPFC preview: "We are ready"

Julian Nagelsmann on...

 

… the opponent.

The boys who are going to play tomorrow have prepared really well for the game. We have analysed Ludogorets, we know how they play and we have a gameplan to neutralise their strengths. We had a plan for the away game against them too; however that game didn’t go as we wanted to unfortunately.

... the team news.

Gregor Kobel will start in goal. Lots of younger players will get game time and guys who haven’t had a run of games in the side will also feature. They’ll all be fired up for it. Lots of young players will be getting their first taste of first team action on an international stage. That means it will be a great evening even though we unfortunately can’t progress to the next round. I’m looking forward to the game. The more established players who have given their all recently will get a rest and concentrate on the Hannover game on Sunday.

... the sporting situation.

We’ve had 27 players in training recently. It means that there’s a lot of competition for places and that can only do us good. The boys are working hard and we are all really focused. With our Europa League exit, there will be players who aren’t happy about the game time they’re getting but that is football.

... more on the sporting situation.

There have been ups and downs in the Europa League for us. A big thing for us has been that we have to constantly train and not let up, even when it isn’t going well on the pitch. The players have definitely learnt that nutrition and sleep play a great role. Nothing can replace sleep. In all the games, even though they didn’t go brilliantly, we had opportunities to win but we just didn’t manage to get it done. After the Ludogorets game, we will switch our full focus back to the Bundesliga and …. We are now only going to be in one competition but we want to be able to compete on as many fronts as possible next season. If we play well now in just the one competition, then we’ll be able to do that. If not then we’ll have to wait until the following season.

Head-to-head

There has only been one match between the two sides – on Matchday 2 of the Europa League group stages. TSG went into the lead early on in Bulgaria at the end of September through Pavel Kaderabek but ended up falling to a 2-1 defeat.

The opponents' form

Ludogorets are at the top of their league with CSKA Sofia right on their tails. The club from Bulgaria’s capital city have just one point less than Razgrad after 19 games. Dimitar Dimitrov’s side have had a mixed few weeks with a win and a loss. They have had ups and downs since the start of November and their home defeat against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Europa League on matchday 5 means that they still need a point from their final group game to confirm their progression into the knockout stages. Basaksehir could progress due to their previous win against Ludogorets if they beat Braga and TSG overcome Ludogorets.

The key battle

The Bulgarian champions’ key strengths are on their wings. Ludogorets have wingers who are extremely fast and are brilliant technically. Both wingers are fast on the counter when they win the ball back and make their opponents work hard in defence to prevent the counter-attacking opportunities. That will be key to TSG’s success in their final Europa League match of the season.

Match facts and statistics »