Stuttgart boss: Porto have more to lose with narrow lead | OneFootball

Sebastian Hoeness previewed the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 against FC Porto and emphasized that success is not achieved solely with attractive football. Even after the defeat in the first leg in Germany, the Stuttgart coach believes his team has the ability to eliminate the Dragons.

«Jovanovic has been injured for a few months now, Vagnoman is back, and Leweling is fit. We'll see if he can play tomorrow. Vagnoman? He's capable of playing... If there's no risk, he can start. He's in good physical condition, and if the doctors say everything is fine, he might start, eventually.»

«The motivational part is still to come, but the mere fact that we can advance is motivation enough. But we still vividly remember the home game – it was heated – and there will be plenty of motivation. I know the team can play uglier football to win, we don't need to go back too far. It's not possible to have much success in three years if we only know how to play beautifully. We need to know how to play all types of football. Work on the motivational part, always be at the limit... I'm sure we will be motivated.»

«It's not a game like any other... We can reach the quarter-finals. Achieving something historic by reaching the quarter-finals is possible. It would be very special for the club. We are calm, we will train here [at the Dragão], which will further increase this desire, this wish we have. It's not a game like the others.»

«The result was good for FC Porto, but it's a one-goal difference, and away goals don't count as before... We just need to score a goal, and we go to extra time. It's a game that will be played to the limit. We saw how tight it was at home. FC Porto might even have more to lose in this position, but tomorrow we will see how it goes. It could be 90, 120 minutes... We'll see.»

Will Stuttgart start with intensity in the opening minutes?

«We know we have a tough task ahead. FC Porto is having an incredible season, they won their last game in the Portuguese League, and now it's not very important to look at the past. We don't need to score in the first 10 minutes, but we can, it's important to create momentum early on. It's important to have an emotional but stable game, with feet and head. Then, the game develops, and we need to see how things unfold. We need freedom, emotion, and we have to score one more goal than the opponent to secure advancement.»

«I've never gotten involved in those topics, I don't interfere with call-ups, and I won't start now. But it was very clear that Deniz Undav had a great game in Leipzig. I don't think it's just about being called up to the national team. He plays like this because it's in his nature. It's very important for the national team that he scores decisive goals. A player who scores 16 goals in a season is good... We need to see this from a positive perspective.»

«We talked among ourselves about it. I think the last word on the subject hasn't been said yet. We need to wait. It's a shame, regardless of the next steps. You don't eliminate a winning team like that, it's unworthy for the competition, but that's what I can say at the moment. I watched the final live and had never seen anything like it. Now this decision... It's bizarre.»

«I won't talk much about it... I'll keep the secret for tomorrow, but you can ask the player. Max didn't play these two games, which is uncommon and shows his value. Our players are all in good shape, hence the decisions I've made. Max wants to play, of course, but he's also very focused, accepted the decision well, and is doing well in the locker room... For me, he's always been at a very high level. He remains very important to us.»

«As with everything in life, balance is needed. It's important to remove the bad occurrences from a week ago from our minds and start from scratch. We need to have a cool head to make good decisions. There are players who have been in many important matches. I'm fine, I don't feel much pressure. I feel some anticipation, but the rest comes at game time. Little has changed since last week. We want to play these games, it's a challenge we have ahead. There's a great opportunity here. We've been growing in recent years, and we know that together, we can do incredible things.»

«There wasn't much time between games to train, and both teams shouldn't change their style of play much overall. Some things might change, but nothing special. The most important thing is the mental component of the game, which will be relevant.»

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.