Champions League: Gladbach look to build on first-leg win
August 23, 2016Two away goals in three second-half minutes put Gladbach in a dominant position going in to their third competitive game of the season, and Schubert has no intention of relinquishing any of the momentum from the wins in Switzerland and in the German Cup on Saturday.
"We have put ourselves in a great position from the first leg and are now desperate to make it to the group stage of the Champions League. That’s why none of my players will be taking anything for granted on Wednesday," Schubert said in Tuesday's prematch press conference.
"It will be our first home game of the season and we are expecting a full house and a fantastic atmosphere. It will be a great experience for all of the players. Even though we won the first leg in Bern, we still want to dominate tomorrow night’s game and of course come out on top. We are a very attack-minded side and so we will look to play on the front foot right from the start."
Despite their solid form so far, Schubert said his side would be rotated both in this second-leg match and frequently in the coming season. One man the Foals will definitely be without on Wednesday is Swiss forward Josip Drmic, who spent the end of last season on loan at Hamburg. He's expected to be out until October.
Young Boys are also expected to be missing a striker, after former Paris St. Germain target man Guillaume Hoarau was pictured on crutches. But Schubert isn't totally convinced of the big front man's absence.
"I’m aware that he was on crutches yesterday (Monday) but I’m still a bit skeptical about his absence," Schubert said. "You do sometimes see these miraculous recoveries in football. Hoarau proved in the first leg that he is a very dangerous player. "
If Schubert scouted his opponents in their last league game, he may well have reached the conclusion that Hoarau plays for a dangerous side too. In their fifth league game of the Swiss Super League, Young Boys crushed Lausanne 7-2 to move up to third in the table.
Should Gladbach progress on Wednesday, they will find out who they play in the Champions League group stages when the draw is made on Thursday in Monaco.