„Pure football romance“

Dynamo is a very difficult opponent who underwent a bit of a revamp during the winter break. We expect only two or three players in the starting eleven who also played against us in the first leg. They’ve definitely added quality. They’re characterised by a courageous style of play. They try to press high up the pitch. They earned a point and kept a clean sheet in Hannover, which is no small feat. They constantly adapt their pressing to the opponent. That’s what makes them special. We’ll see how they approach it against us. We’re also not entirely predictable in what we do.

They have a playful approach from the back, which makes them difficult to press. You have to take a certain amount of risk if you want to win the ball back high up the pitch. This allows them to launch frequent, fast breaks. They have good long-range shooters, play on the counter-attack, and have the option of bringing on reinforcements from the bench. This makes them dangerous. Offensively, they deliver an extremely high number of crosses and have two clear wingers and, in Vermeij, a clear target man. That’s what sets them apart. The fundamental DNA of this team is very courageous.

I don’t know why things are different away from home than at home. We approach it the same way we always do, preparing for the opponent as best we can. We have a very active defensive style, which means we allow quite a few shots from the opposition. But there’s a big difference between the shots we allow and the shots that actually go on target. We work on blocking, for example. It’s important to stay calm in and around the penalty area. When you’re sitting deep, you have to be well-organised in the box, and that’s actually one of our greatest strengths. But we didn’t do that so well against Paderborn or Braunschweig, for example. That’s also one of the keys for the away game in Dresden.

I have absolutely no loss of confidence in Fabi Holland. He put in a good performance in Braunschweig, defended very solidly at home in the cup match against Schalke, who certainly have some strong players on the wings, and also played well in Hannover. There are far more reasons to trust him than to look for the negatives. Thanks to Paul’s good squad planning, we brought in Raoul as an alternative in the winter. We knew he would need some time to get back into shape physically, as he hadn’t played for a while due to the earlier season in MLS. We’ll see how long he can maintain that level. But Fabi is an incredibly important player for us, both on and off the pitch. I sleep very soundly when Fabi plays.

Dresden has a special stadium atmosphere, especially under the floodlights. I have fond memories of our cup match there. For me, Dresden under the floodlights is one of the top five stadiums in Germany. Accordingly, we’re really looking forward to this emotional game. It increases my anticipation even more. The most important thing in football is the emotions and the soul of a team. What awaits us on Friday is pure football romance. I love that; it brings me great joy.