It was Julian Weigl's candid words spoken 24 hours before the Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur that really lodged in the memory. The 22-year-old showed himself to be self-critical and yet full of pleasant anticipation. 

Weigl stressed at the press conference on the evening before the game that every individual should look where he can improve. "I am not playing the football right now that I would like to be." He spoke of "unforced errors I am making", and said that such mistakes are mounting up within the team. His demand read, then: "Everybody has to be there for everybody else. It is important that we go out onto the pitch as a unit and focus on our strengths." The midfield player gave some insight into the inner workings of the team: the communication between the players is as good as it was previously. "We hold intensive discussions with each other and with the training staff. There is no rift."

There may possibly be a chance in the match against the team that were able to beat Real Madrid. Both the players (Weigl: "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It is a difficult game, but also a good opportunity") and the manager are of the same opinion in that respect. "Nobody is expecting us to win", opined Peter Bosz: "Maybe it is an opportunity to play a good game and to turn things around. The team need a win in order to get things going again after all the negative results." The manager asserted once more that it is not a lack of will or readiness to play for example on the part of his team that is preventing them from getting a result. Bosz' analysis of the situation after the early and extremely unlucky (own-) goal in Stuttgart went as follows: "It was important for me that the team showed the right attitude, continued to play good football afterwards, applied pressure, and created chances for themselves."

Tottenham are themselves not quite at their best at the moment. After a winning streak that ran from the middle of September to the middle of October with five wins, they have only managed two in their last five matches, one of which the attention grabbing 3-1 victory over Real Madrid. In their last 13 away games on the European stage, Spurs have won three, but lost six (four draws).

Christian Pulisic was not present for the final training session. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has returned to the team, something confirmed by Peter Bosz on the evening before. "The issue has been sorted, and that's the end of it."
Boris Rupert

BVB total!-Video: The complete press conference with Julian Weigl and Peter Bosz, free for everybody