Borussia Monchengladbach assistant coach Oliver Neuville has stated that playing at San Siro against Inter in the opening round of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday will be a great experience for the Bundesliga side.
“We are coming into the match well, even if on Saturday we unfortunately drew with Wolfsburg,” he began an interview with Italian news outlet FCInter1908.it.
“It was a shame, 12 minutes from the end we scored from a penalty, we went 1-0 up and clearly when you are ahead, at home, you should close the game out and try win the three points, but with five minutes left they equalised.”
Neuville proceeded to discuss what it will be like for the team to play at Inter’s San Siro, even if there will be next to no fans in the stands.
“It will certainly be a great experience for us to play in such a stadium, even if there will not be many people. For all players it is always nice to play at San Siro, it is a great stadium. Too bad there will not be many spectators.”
Next Neuville went on to give his thoughts about Inter and stated that he feels Antonio Conte’s men are the best in the group.
“For me, Inter are the strongest team in our group. They have great strength in their attack, Lukaku is the most important player. He is a player who scores, he is very fast, he protects the ball well and when the defenders throw long he makes the team go up the field.
“Then there are very fast players on the wings, who score a lot of goals and a lot of assists. On the counterattack they are very strong, they play simple and they already know what to do.
“Who do we fear the most? We respect the whole team, there is not only Lukaku, although certainly, for the way Inter plays, he is the most important player.”
Neuville, who scored 10 goals in 69 games for the German national team, went on to speak about Inter wing-back Achraf Hakimi, who is a player well known in Germany.
“He played for two years in Dortmund, we know him well. He is a very fast player and perfect for Inter’s 3-5-2, on the right wing. He pushes forward a lot and knows how to cross well.”
He then spoke on Borussia Monchengladbach’s Summer transfer window addition Valentino Lazaro, who arrived in a loan with option to buy deal after just one season with Inter, the second half of which he was loaned out for due to his struggles.
“Unfortunately he was injured immediately, but our coach knows him very well. He is a player who can play in several positions. He can play as a full back or if we play 4-2-3-1 he can play on the right wing and he can also play as number 10. We count a lot on him, he gives his best on the right, in an attacking position.”
In conclusion he was asked what Borussia Monchengladbach, who have finished as runners up in the competition once before, are aiming to do in this year’s edition of the competition.
“Like any team we want to try to go through, even if it is clear that we are in a difficult group but I also think that no team would have wanted to draw us in the fourth pot.
“We want to play for it and try to do as best as possible, anyone who plays in the Champions League wants at least to go through. If we don’t make it we hope at least to finish third to be able to go to the Europa League.”
