Rose ahead of Heidenheim game: "Fresher than the opponent"

RB Leipzig will be relying on the freshness effect against 1. FC Heidenheim. After a long week of training without international action, only a win counts for the Saxons in the battle for Champions League qualification. "Of course we're favorites on Sunday, of course we're fresher than our opponents because we've had a normal week of training. We know that ourselves," said RB head coach Marco Rose ahead of Sunday's match (3.30 pm/DAZN) against 16th-placed Heidenheim.

The Saxons have picked up just one win from their last five Bundesliga games, but have won all three matches against Heidenheim in the league so far. "For us, it's about playing a good game, getting points against an opponent who is still unpleasant.

Heidenheim often come back

Because Heidenheim are characterized by a few things: A team that never gives up, no matter what the score. They come back relatively often and reward themselves here and there," said Rose about Frank Schmidt's team, who are not exactly confident after their unfortunate exit after extra time in the Conference League against FC Copenhagen.

After all, Heidenheim have been waiting for a win in the league for six games. The last one came in mid-January with a 2-0 win against Union Berlin. After that, there was only a draw in Bremen and five defeats in a row.

Poulsen is out

In terms of personnel, RB can once again field captain and defensive boss Willi Orban, who recently had to serve a suspension. In attack, however, Yussuf Poulsen is out with muscular problems. There are positive signs from Xaver Schlager and Antonio Nusa. "Both are making progress, but they are still out. We expect them to start during the international break," said Rose.