Following the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the play-off, Eintracht battle it out with PFC Levski Sofia at the Frankfurt Stadium on Thursday evening (20:30 CEST) for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. At the pre-match press conference, Dino Toppmöller and Makoto Hasebe discussed…
...the significance of the match
Dino Toppmöller: “My focus, and that of the boys who are there, is completely on the match. It’s an extremely important match for us, we’re determined to win and reach the group stage. We know the significance, we’ve prepared accordingly and will go into it extremely motivated. It’s about progressing. We have to block out everything else, accept the challenges and achieve our objectives with all our might.”
Makoto Hasebe: “We're going into the game very motivated and taking Sofia very seriously. We're hoping for a great atmosphere and support from the fans tomorrow. We're determined to continue our European journey.”
...lessons from the first leg
Dino Toppmöller: “We’ve watched and analysed the first leg a number of times. It was the tough game we expected with Levski Sofia’s good individual quality. We’ve thought up a good plan to cause the opponents problems on Thursday. We’re aware we need to be better in our play.”
Omar Marmoush will start and then we’ll see who we put alongside him.
Head coach Dino Toppmöller
...the atmosphere in the stadium
Dino Toppmöller: “When we come into the stadium, there’ll be a top atmosphere. The way the fans pushed us at Mainz was incredible. We felt that positive energy and want to take it into the match tomorrow. It’ll be goosebumps from the start, and then we want to get over the line together.”
...the centre-back positions
Dino Toppmöller: “It always depends on how we play in and out of possession. If we do that in a back three, then Makoto Hasebe is a very important player for us in the centre. Tuta and Robin Koch have more experience as centre-backs in a back four. Makoto is brilliant in build-up play. He’s also in my thoughts as a number six this season. With his reading of the game and composure on the ball, he can give us a huge amount.”
...who will play up front
Dino Toppmöller: “Jessic Ngankam is an option but it always depends on how we want to set up in possession and whether we then play one or two strikers. Omar Marmoush will start and then we’ll see who we put alongside him.”
