After back-to-back draws in their last two games, the Wolves return to action at 16th-placed VfB Stuttgart on Saturday 18 March (kick-off 15:30 CET). At the press conference ahead of the trip to Swabia, VfL head coach Niko Kovac answered the media’s questions on…
… the balance of power: “It’s not just been that way since the start of this season, but for years now there have only been three or four teams in the league who are always regarded as favourites. That doesn’t apply to the rest, no matter what the table looks like at the time. We’re completely aware of that. We have a good team and are in a good position (https://www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/en/teams/first-team/table) too, but the teams below us are also applying pressure and the sides near the bottom are fighting to stay in the division. We’re going to Stuttgart to win the game, but VfB’s aims are exactly the same.”
… personnel: “Bartol Franjic remains injured and Lukas Nmecha is also ruled out through injury. Luca Waldschmidt is ill – he wasn’t at training today and won’t be travelling with us. Other than that, everyone’s fit.”
… VfL’s opponents: “My opinion of Stuttgart is much better than their position in the table might otherwise suggest. If you look at their results in isolation, it might appear there has only been modest progress. But if you look at how hard VfB work and how they defend, you realise they should have picked up more points. They’re a team who want to play football, are very dangerous and quick on the counter.”
… the necessary approach: “It’s always good to go into the international break on the back of a good result, which makes things more relaxed for everyone. We’re confident we have the quality to get something from the game, but we’ve got a tough job ahead of us. Everything has to be right, from the first minute to the last. We have to be highly focused. There are going to be a lot of fans in the stadium who will get behind our opponents. It’s about playing with passion but also keeping a cool head. We also need to make better use of our opportunities than we have in recent games.”
