RB coach Rose calls for final spurt: "Goals are clear"

With the upcoming away game in the Bundesliga in sight and the semi-final of the DFB Cup at the back of his mind, RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose has to plan ahead. "We have a tough week ahead of us. We have to look at the players to see who brings the best power and distribute the load," said the 48-year-old with regard to the game at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday (3.30pm/Sky) and at VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday (8.45pm/Sky), "but the goals are clear: we want to win the title and get into the Champions League."

Rose's return to Gladbach

As fifth in the table, three points behind first place in Europe's top flight, RB could pull away from rivals Gladbach, who are seventh in the table with 40 points and two points fewer than Leipzig.

"Gladbach have gained stability overall and are defending compactly well. It's not so easy to create goalscoring opportunities," said Rose about his former club, where he was on the touchline from 2019 to 2021. "They're simply a good team that will make it as difficult as possible for us. But we think we're ready and prepared."

Lessons from the Dortmund game

Even after the international break, Rose is still thinking back to the home game against Borussia Dortmund, which, despite the 2-0 win, gave the coach food for thought due to the performance in the second half. "We have to bring confidence onto the pitch for 90 minutes - that's the lesson from the BVB game," said the head coach.

Rose is all the more pleased that many of the national team players were back on the pitch on Wednesday, allowing preparation for the coming week to begin a day earlier than usual. Especially in view of the fact that the Gladbach game is followed four days later by the DFB Cup final in Stuttgart.

"Very sensitive" when selecting personnel

"We have the crunch week in the back of our minds and have to think ahead a bit," said Rose, who will now have to do without Xaver Schlager again in addition to Benjamin Henrichs, Assan Ouedraogo and Antonio Nusa. In view of the risk of further injuries, Rose and his team will take a "very sensitive" approach to the line-up and during the games.