"Opponents like that suit me" - Willi Orban ahead of #RBLBVB | OneFootball

How time flies: On Thursday, Willi Orban marked a special anniversary in his career. Exactly ten years ago, on 19th February 2016, he scored his first goal in an RB Leipzig shirt. In a 3-0 win against Union Berlin, he slotted home the second goal.

Willi hadn’t actually thought about it until we brought it up. His first reaction: “It wasn’t a spectacular goal.” As is often the case with Willi, he found it funny to look back on the moment: “It took a bit of time before I scored my first goal. I thought I’d score earlier. But in that moment, WO9 was there to slot home.”

Willi reaches special milestone

What Willi has noticed is how time has passed since then: "It's crazy that that was already ten years ago." A lot has happened in the last decade. He was promoted to the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and finished as runner-up, won the DFB-Pokal twice and reached the Champions League semi-finals. He saw players come and go and, throughout it all, remained a rock at the back. His most recent achievement was reaching the special milestone of 250 Bundesliga appearances.Now, aged 33, he passes on his experience to the younger players. He often has conversations with his less experienced teammates, especially ahead of an important match like Saturday evening’s game against Borussia Dortmund. At the same time, Willi emphasises: “Ultimately, it’s about quality - age isn't the deciding factor."

Looking forward to Guirassy

Quality meets quality on Saturday in a game between two top Bundesliga sides. Our centre-half is well aware of that: “Dortmund are very efficient in both penalty areas. They’re very solid defensively and have very good players up front. But we don’t need to be shy. We’ll bring our qualities onto the pitch and take the chances that we are sure to get.”

Willi will likely face one or two duels against Dortmund’s striker Serhou Guirassy. He knows what to expect, though: “Guirassy is very strong in the box when it comes to crosses. With Julian Ryerson, they have a player who feels like he delivers every cross onto Serhou’s head.”

Despite that, Willi is confident: "I'm looking forward to it. Opponents like that suit me."

Time for another goal against BVB?

Perhaps, ten years after his first strike for RBL, Willi might get back among the goals. He has already scored twice against BVB, including a particularly emotional goal in the 2023 DFB-Pokal quarter-final, when he made it 2-0 in the final minute to secure the win.

Ahead of Saturday's game against Dortmund, he said: "We'll win on Saturday, because we'll have more momentum and put in a better performance. The three points will be deserved."

We'll definitely take that, Willi!

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