Jentzsch: "We can only win"

On Saturday (02.04.05), the Bundesliga title favourites Bayern Munich visit the VOLKSWAGENARENA for what promises to be an enthralling round 27 Bundesliga clash. In his regular Captain’s Corner feature, the Wolves skipper Simon Jentzsch talks of the "Non-Plus-Ultra"-game against the Champions League participants. He also assures Wolves fans that the home side will try to make good the 1-5 defeat away to VfL Bochum last time out: "We have to produce a positive reaction and make up for our poor performance in Bochum", says Jentzsch.

vfl-wolfsburg.de: Simon, did you enjoy Easter with your family? Or was the Bochum defeat still on your mind?

Jentzsch: We put the game behind us last week and cleared our minds, now we are concentrating on the task at hand. I did spend Easter with my family, but to be honest, my thoughts were on our game against Bayern.

After the game in Bochum, long discussions were held within the team. Have you noticed a positive change within the team?

Jentzsch: We worked and trained hard last week. Two injured players in as many days proved that our coach had upped the work rate, not that the injuries were deliberate, but just that the effort was increased. I hope that we can carry it over to our game against Bayern.

Some Wolves players are still on World Cup qualifying duty, on Wednesday 3 of them will be in action. Are such omissions from the training schedule a disadvantage or can success at international level rub off on the  team in Wolfsburg?

Jentzsch: It is the same situation for every club which has internationals in their side. I am of course happy for them when they win. Our coach and the players left behind would of course prefer to have all players available at each training session.

The VOLKSWAGENARENA will be sold out for the visit of Bayern on Saturday, does that help team motivation?

Jentzsch: As I said last week, a game against Bayern can only be described as a Non-Plus-Ultra event. We can only win, but our attitude has to be right on the day. We will give our all on Saturday.

A win over Bayern would make up for recent poor results. How is the preparation going? For the Wolves the game is about pride, for the visitors it is being seen as a further step towards winning the Bundesliga title…

Jentzsch: We will prepare as usual, and we have a lot to make up for. We will fight for every centimetre of ground. It is vital that we show a positive reaction and play aggressively. We must be prepared to make good what we messed up in Bochum.

Thanks very much, Simon. We will have our fingers crossed for the Wolves against Bayern on Saturday.