Matchday 8 of the 2018/19 Bundesliga season is looming large on the horizon, with VfL Wolfsburg preparing to host a Bayern Munich side (kick-off: 15:30 CEST on Saturday 20 October) who suffered rare back-to-back defeats in the league prior to the international break. At Thursday's press conference ahead of the game, Bruno Labbadia warned his charges not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the record German champions' recent run of results. The 52-year-old head coach also discussed …
… the upcoming clash with the record champions: "We go into the game with real excitement and need to produce our best performance in order to match Bayern. If we do that, it should be a really interesting contest from our point of view."
… Saturday's opponents: "Bayern's current situation is certainly unusual. If you look at their games, though, you can tell that extraordinary things have happened in those matches. We mustn't let ourselves be distracted – Bayern are too good a team. Having said that, we've seen that they're beatable."
… his team's recent performances: "We could have got a better result in most of our games, and maybe should have won more than we have. We know we need to keep working on things and become more consistent. We can't just dominate a game for 25 minutes – as we did in Bremen recently – but need to learn to keep our cool and stay organised when the opponents are having a good spell. It's important to understand what's expected of us in those situations. We need to keep working on finding the right balance."
… personnel: "There are still a few question marks regarding the fitness of several players. Jerome Roussillon is set to return to training today. We'll have to wait and see how John Anthony Brooks and Marcel Tisserand are doing following their travel commitments. Robin Knoche has also been taking things easier recently due to a groin problem. That was nothing serious, though, just a precaution."
… Josuha Guilavogui: "I've rarely seen a player remain so positive on a day-to-day basis after suffering such an injury. We did a lot of tests with Josh during the week and I have to say he did a great job. He hasn't played or trained with the team for nine weeks, though. It's my duty to take care of him, which is why he won't be involved this weekend."
