“We want to perform with personality” | OneFootball

At his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Bayern, Albert Riera spoke about injuries, Eintracht’s preparations and his team’s objectives for the game in Munich.

Following their 1-1 draw at Union Berlin and the 3-0 home victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt face their biggest challenge of the 2025/26 campaign so far on Matchday 23, when they travel to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. The game at the Allianz Arena on Saturday 21 February kicks off at 15:30 CET.At the press conference ahead of the game, head coach Albert Riera spoke about …… preparations for the trip to Munich: “We’ve prepared exactly the way we do for every game – by focusing on how to win. We’re obviously facing a strong opponent and there are many things to consider. Perfection does not exist. We’ll see where we can hurt them and try to implement the things we’ve been practising.”

… Eintracht’s attack: “Jonathan Burkardt is in a similar situation to Arnaud Kalimuendo. They’re both back. Jonny is in better shape, but he was ill last week. He’s fully fit but lacks match practice. He just needs playing time, so we have to manage that. The same goes for Kali after his shoulder problem. He’s in the squad and ready if we need him, but he’s not at 100 percent yet.”

… personnel: “In five years as a coach, I’ve never experienced anything like what’s happened this week. Robin Koch has a cold. We’re missing two [other] defenders in Arthur Theate und Rasmus Kristensen. Ansgar Knauff is given a day off, he’s sitting on the sofa like a good family man, gets stomach pains and has to have surgery. That obviously affects us, but it’s not an excuse. We need everyone to win games. Whether one, two, three or seven players are out, it doesn’t change our approach or desire to want to perform with personality.”

… the Eagles’ defence: “We’re not machines. Players get ill. That’s the situation. I don’t have my captain but I have solutions, so we won’t be playing with ten men. We obviously want to force our opponents into mistakes. Nnamdi Collins is playing at full-back and we’re without Arthur and Robin in the centre. There’s going to be a surprise.”

… Eintracht’s mindset: “If I already knew we were going to lose, we could save money and not bother with the flight or the hotel. If I think we can win, we’ll make the trip. When you step into the ring, you don’t want to lose. We’re ready, we have a plan with and without the ball, and we want to get on Bayern’s nerves and cause them problems when they have possession. I expect us to show character. Bayern prefer to have the ball. If you want to win the ball off them, you have to defend well and make your opponents run. We’re not afraid of anything, generally speaking. We’re talking about football, a game in which we want to show our strengths. We have plenty to gain and little to lose.”