Matchday 4 of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League brings VfB’s third away game in the space of a week as they take on Turkish champions Galatasaray on Tuesday evening (kick-off 18:45 CET). The Lions picked up their first points of this season’s European campaign with a 4-2 victory in Lille last time out, having suffered a 4-1 defeat against FC Barcelona in their only home game so far a week earlier.
Despite Galatasaray’s results in the Champions League to date this term, Sebastian Hoeneß is in no doubt that VfB will face a tough task on Tuesday evening, with the hosts counting on the backing of their supporters at the 52,600-capacity RAMS Park: “The stadium and the fans are a major factor. Tomorrow we’re up against a talented team who have really hit their stride recently, and we have great respect for them. It won’t be an easy game.”
Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß:
We’ll need to deliver a strong performance mentally, physically and tactically.
However, the boys from Cannstatt are well aware of their own strengths too, and have no intention of sitting back in Istanbul. “We want to play with the same determination and courage that we showed in Leverkusen on Saturday,” said Hoeneß. “Against strong teams, it’s always a good approach to focus on bringing your own strengths to bear on the pitch. That’s what we want to do tomorrow.”
“Deliver a strong performance mentally, physically and tactically”
With two wins and a draw from their opening three league-phase assignments, VfB set off for Istanbul early on Monday morning. Before kick-off against the reigning Turkish champions, Hoeneß’ side will hold their final training session on the RAMS Park pitch on Monday evening, giving them the opportunity to hone their preparations.
“We’ve come up with a few ideas and want to play our game tomorrow,” Hoeneß said. “To do that, we’ll need to deliver a strong performance mentally, physically and tactically. We have the opportunity to take the next step and can hardly wait for the game.”
