It’s the first win-or-bust showdown of the new year for FC Bayern! On Wednesday, the German record champions welcome TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to the Round of 16 tie in the DFB Cup. Before his cup premiere as Munich coach, Hansi Flick answered questions on Tuesday about the clash with the team from the Kraichgau region. fcbayern.com summarises the 54-year-old's key statements.
Flick on Ivan Perišić‘ injury
“The ankle has to be screwed together. It will take around four weeks for the injury to heal, then he'll begin recovery training. It's not easy for us at this moment in time because Ivan has been in very good form, and his dynamism and experience have helped us a lot.”
Ivan Perišić sidelined with injury 👇
Flick on Hoffenheim
“We want to win the game, make the next round and of course proceed to Berlin. With Hoffenheim we have opponents who play good football. Alfred Schreuder is a very good coach and does his job excellently. He’s an absolute football expert. We’re well prepared. My coaching team and I are trying to give the players everything they need for the game. On the pitch, the team has to take matters into their own hands.”
Flick on Lucas Hernández
“He‘s taken the next step and will be back in the squad tomorrow. We're all happy about that. But we'll continue step by step. Lucas is making very good progress and is exactly where we want him to be. It's important that he’s there and that we let him play when the opportunity arises so he can gain match practice.”
Flick on Kingsley Coman
“As far as Kingsley is concerned, we assume that he’ll return to the squad from Sunday. The healing process went relatively quickly. All credit to everyone who worked to get him back on the field so early. On Sunday we had training and he was throwing himself into the challenges, which I really enjoyed. He’ll do another training session tomorrow.”
Flick on Serge Gnabry
“Serge wasn’t able to participate in the first week of the training camp and therefore had to catch up a little bit. But he already got playing time against Berlin and Mainz and is now 100 percent fit again.”
Flick on Bayern’s fine form
“We want to build on what we’ve achieved in the first three games of the year. The team has more confidence in its quality again. That’s what marks out the team. We have high quality in every position. But to be able to deliver, everyone needs the necessary self-confidence. At the moment, we have the right balance. We have to work on keeping it that way.”
Flick on Bayern’s tight defence
“In football, both the attack and the defence are part of the team. Especially with our playing style, where we put opponents under a lot of pressure, it's extremely important that we have a good last line of defence. That's where we put the emphasis. We're doing that very well at the moment, so we’re defending well. I’m pleased we’re conceding so few goals. But there are still things we can and must work on.”
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