In the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, ‘matchday minus one’ means final training sessions followed by a press conference with the head coach and a player. On Tuesday Djibril Sow sat next to Oliver Glasner on the podium, where they discussed…
...the sense of anticipation:
Oliver Glasner: “We’re really looking forward to it. The Champions League is the reward for our extraordinary season last term when we won the Europa League. Now we can test ourselves at the highest level in club football, starting with Sporting, who are a very good team and who reached the last 16 last season. We want to build on our improving form and give our fans another wonderful evening.”
Djibril Sow: “I’ve already been lucky enough to play in the Champions League. Back then I went into the campaign without any expectations, but this year we want to achieve something as a team and represent Eintracht with pride.”
...Sporting:
Oliver Glasner: “The Champions League hymn is nice but it’s our performance that counts. We’re going up against a really good opponent. We know their 3-4-3 formation very well because we’ve used it a lot ourselves. They’ve got several very agile players, but they’re also very aggressive. They’ve got a really good team with a clear structure and you can see how the coach wants them to play. We can’t focus on the lyrics of the hymn; we have to do our jobs out on the pitch.”
Djibril Sow: “Sporting are similar to Leipzig in terms of their quality. Their mentality is impressive in getting back behind the ball so quickly. We’ll need to be as ruthless and clinical with the few chances we get as we were on Saturday.”
...the new competition:
Oliver Glasner: “The Champions League logo looks great, we could definitely get used to that (laughs).”
Seeing the Champions League logo in Frankfurt gave me goosebumps. It's special for everyone connected to Eintracht.
Djibril Sow
Djibril Sow: “Seeing the Champions League logo in Frankfurt gave me goosebumps. It's special for everyone connected to Eintracht. We want to play with energy and bring joy to the fans.”
...objectives:
Djibril Sow: “We want to represent the club in a worthy manner and show the kind of football we showed in the Europa League, which earned us a lot of respect. It’s a nice challenge and we’re all looking forward to it.”
...the home atmosphere:
Oliver Glasner: “The atmosphere is always great, regardless of the game. The fans always come up with something and are 100 per cent behind the team. I’m looking forward to their tifo and we know that we can count on their support from the first second to the very last.”
