Hoeness: "We're taking the game very seriously"

Sebastian Hoeness on…

…the match against Gent: "This will be a different game to the one against Augsburg last time out. But it's still important for us. The aim is for the lads who are playing to get themselves in form for the final matches before Christmas. To do that, they need minutes under their belts. There are enough reasons to take the match seriously. We'll do that, and we want to win tomorrow."

…the opposition: "Gent have a new coach who certainly has big ambitions. We'll want to approach the match with great readiness and prove ourselves."

…the personnel situation: "Philipp Pentke will play tomorrow. I'm delighted for him; he's earned it with his training performances and his attitude. Otherwise I don't believe there are any more players who will be making their Europa League debuts, because almost every player in the squad has already been involved."

…the Round of 32: "I haven't yet picked out an opponent I'd like to face. We need to wait and see who's in the draw first of all. We'll only be focusing on that after the match. We'll wait for the draw on Monday and perhaps we wouldn't mind if we aren't drawn against a big opponent until a potential Round of 16 tie."

…the win against Augsburg: "You could sense that we were delighted with the win and that the mood improved. But the atmosphere wasn't bad beforehand either. We performed well and deservedly won. We haven't lost a match since the international break and we want to extend that run tomorrow."

The opposition's form:

Gent have been struggling to meet their own expectations this season. The Buffalos are currently languishing in 13th place in the Belgian top flight after 15 matches, and have already sacked three coaches this season.

Head-to-head record:

The reverse fixture was the only previous competitive meeting between the teams. TSG won that game 4-1 in Gent thanks to goals from Ishak Belfodil, Florian Grillitsch, Mijat Gaćinović and Munas Dabbur.

Match facts and statistics »