“Want to begin with three points” | OneFootball

Dino Toppmöller and Ansgar Knauff were brimming with anticipation for the start of the Europa League as they discussed personnel, opponents, and laying down a marker against Plzeň.

Eintracht welcome Viktoria Plzeň to Deutsche Bank Park on Matchday 1 of the league phase of the UEFA Europa League. On the eve of the game, head coach Dino Toppmöller and Ansgar Knauff talked about…

...personnel:

Dino Toppmöller: “Kevin Trapp and Oscar Højlund are out. Mario Götze returned to team training today but he's not quite ready to be in the squad. There's a big question mark over Robin Koch, who has a minor hip problem. If Robin’s ruled out, we have three options in Nnamdi Collins, Aurèle Amenda and Niels Nkounkou. With that it also depends on how we want to structure our build-up.”

...the UEFA Europa League:

Dino Toppmöller: “We all know it’s a special competition for Eintracht – and we all feel that, too. We want to deliver a good performance with our fans behind us and start with three points. For all those who were here in 2022, it’s obviously an absolutely highlight of their career.”  Ansgar Knauff: “I'm really looking forward to the Europa League. We've experienced a lot of special matches here and now it starts again at home. We want to carry the energy with us again. We're all really up for it and want to begin with three points.”

…next opponents Viktoria Plzeň:

Dino Toppmöller: “While we see ourselves as favourites, Viktoria Plzeñ won all their group games in the UEFA Conference League last season and got to the quarter-finals - neither of which we managed to do. We're facing the opponents with respect.” …managing the workload:

Dino Toppmöller: “Obviously it’s also tiring for myself and all of us on the coaching staff. But at the moment it’s great fun being on the pitch, preparing and analysing the games, and working with the boys. They’re implementing things very well, listening and are hungry. That helps.”

Ansgar Knauff: “During this period, it’s important that you take care of yourself and your body. It’s one game after the other in all three competitions and we want to be as successful as possible in all of them. I’m glad that I’m back to 100 percent and ready for the weeks ahead.”