Hoeness: "We're itching to get through"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the personnel situation: "I'm not going to completely reveal my hand. Robert Skov, Munas Dabbur and Sebastian Rudy have been back in team training for a few days. They could play a role in Liberec and Mainz. Ishak Belfodil and Kevin Vogt returned to training today. The current squad situation does not allow for us to rotate completely. We'll see who makes it onto the field."  

…the opponent: "I'm expecting to face a different side to the one from the first fixture. Thankfully, the infected players are healthy again. Plus, they're playing at home. It'll be a different match to the one three weeks ago. We're preparing for that. The lads won't underestimate Slovan and are itching to get through."

…the chances of qualification: It would be extremely valuable for us as a team and an historic success for the club. We then want to be drawn against a big opponent in the knockout stages. But first of all we need to seal our progression and take the final step. We're very focused on that. We want to win and, in doing so, take an enormous step towards winning the group."

…the 3-3 draw with VfB Stuttgart: "I have no worries that the mood in the camp is turning. I was also extremely annoyed after the match. But we need to put the game into proper perspective. We're in a difficult situation. It says a lot about the team that we're not satisfied with a 3-3 draw, but are instead frustrated about the two points we've dropped. We need to keep going and eventually we'll get our reward."

The opposition's form:

The Fortuna Liga was suspended between the start of October and the start of November due to the high corona figures in Czechia. Slovan won the first league match after the restart, but then lost the second one last weekend. With three points on the board, coach Pavel Hoftych's charges occupy third spot in the Europa League.

Head-to-head record:

The 5-0 victory in the reverse fixture was the first time the two teams have ever met. However, Slovan Liberec were without 15 players for that clash three weeks ago due to the coronavirus. Now the players are healthy again and available to play, so it's likely to be a very different game.

Match facts and statistics »