"I’m hugely excited" - Gelson Fernandes interview

 How do you assess your group and particularly your first opponents, Olympique Marseille?
“I’m pleased with the draw; we have a tasty group. I know Olympique Marseille’s team and coach very well and I’ve also played with a few of them. It’ll be a tough task for us. They narrowly missed out on the UEFA Champions League but got to the final of the Europa League last season. They have great quality and experienced players. If you were in the final last year then you want to win it this year, so they’re one of the favourites.”

What do you think about Thursday’s game being behind closed doors?
“I know the stadium and the atmosphere there, so it’s a shame there won’t be a crowd on Thursday. It’s especially frustrating for our fans because they certainly would’ve travelled in numbers. I remember my time in the Europa League with Freiburg, when Frankfurt were also involved. At the time I couldn’t believe they had 10,000 fans in Bordeaux. I’m more upset for the fans than for us players. Personally I’m hugely excited about going up against Marseille.”

How do you rate your chances against Marseille?
“We want to get something from the game, which would be good for our confidence. At the moment we’re playing well and there’s no lack of effort, but we’re not picking up the points. Five points from the first three Bundesliga games would’ve been better than three.”

You face an arduous schedule over the next few weeks. What’s that like for players?
“You can’t think about it too much. First we’re playing at Marseille so our focus is on Marseille. You only think about the next game after that. We have to deal with it well in terms of our concentration and our strength. We’ve worked hard to get here so we can’t now complain about having too many games.”