Pre-Match Report
Niko Kovac prior to the game at St. Pauli: "We have to go one better"
Following two energy-sapping weeks that included the UEFA Champions League play-off victory against Sporting CP, Niko Kovac has had a full week to prepare his team for the Bundesliga encounter with St. Pauli. There is a good atmosphere in the Black & Yellow camp following the 6-0 victory against Union Berlin last Saturday.
"You could definitely feel that throughout the training week," said the BVB coach, who went on to add that the victory was important not only in terms of the table,but also in terms of "the way we performed". "We played very dynamic and very intense football; we defended aggressively, we put our opponents under pressure and we had a lot of good moments."
"Continue what we started against Union"
But BVB will not want to stop at that success. "We now need to go one better," demanded Kovac in the run-up to BVB's 18th Bundesliga meeting with FC St. Pauli (12 wins and two defeats), who the BVB head coach describes as a “very unpleasant” opponent.
"They don't necessarily score a lot of goals, but they also concede damn few,” said Kovac, in reference to the Hamburg outfit's goal difference (18-27)., before adding: "That means that we will have to do a lot to create chances – because they are very compact." And that will be the Black & Yellows' gameplan against St. Pauli: "You saw in the last match that the more chances you create, the likelier that you are to score goals,” said the BVB coach, who wants to continue "what we started against Union" against St. Pauli.
In addition to long-term injury absentee Felix Nmecha, Niko Kovac will also be without Julian Ryerson on Saturday, who is sidelined with a flu-like infection. With a day to go until the game, Kovac does not want to commit to an alternative in the right-back position and emphasised that Yan Couto, Niklas Süle or Waldemar Anton could be deployed “in order to provide the necessary attacking impetus too".
A player who will return to the squad is Julian Brandt, who missed the 6-0 win against Union Berlin due to muscular problems. "He will be an option for tomorrow," explained Kovac, who does however want "to exercise caution" with his midfielder in view of the upcoming English weeks and the UEFA Champions League round of 16 games against OSC Lille. "A muscle injury like that is not always entirely undangerous. We will have to make the right decisions in that regard."
Repeat success of reverse fixture
Even without the injured players, Borussia want to win at the Millerntor and bring the three points back to Dortmund. "We have to step on the gas from the start tomorrow. We may have to get through some difficult moments together and then use our moments to win this game," said Kovac ahead of the match against the promoted outfit from Hamburg, who currently occupy 16th place with 21 points from 23 games and are six points above the relegation play-off place.
BVB, who are currently six points adrift of the international spots in 10th position, celebrated a deserved 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture that was only sealed in the closing stages thanks to Serhou Guirassy's goal. Borussia want to repeat their success against coach Alexander Blessin's team on Saturday – and the objective is clear: “We want to win the game. We know what to expect tomorrow and we want to get it done. That is our declared goal,” said Niko Kovac.
Nina Bargel-Neuhaus