Voices on the game... RB Leipzig

Have a read of some of the key opinions and expert analysis ahead of tonight’s UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg clash with RP Leipzig at the new stadium (kick-off 8pm)...

Julian Nagelsmann

RB Leipzig manager

“I have a huge amount of respect for Jose Mourinho. He's won lots of titles and been a massive influence on European football. I get a bit nervous before every game, but this isn't the most important game in the club's history. Of course, we want to reach the quarter-finals, but first we need to negotiate the away leg.”

Steffen Freund

Spurs legend, now TV pundit in Germany

Speaking to us at the time the draw for the round of 16 was made, Steffen said: “RB Leipzig are first-time qualifiers for the last 16 of the Champions League, so they don’t have the experience of Tottenham Hotspur and Jose Mourinho. But, Nagelsmann has the fire as a young coach to do something special, and he’s already done that by reaching the last 16 and they have nothing to lose. Two years ago, they lost Naby Keita to Liverpool, their best player. This year they didn’t lose Timo Werner… in the end, Werner signed a new contract. He is their most dangerous player up front. They have signed Christopher Nkunku (from PSG), Patrik Schick (on loan from Roma) and Hannes Wolf from RB Salzburg, a really talented midfielder who was out after breaking his ankle in the UEFA Under-21 finals but he’s back already.

“They are really flexible tactically with Nagelsmann. He can change from a back three to a back four if he has to; three strikers or two strikers if he has to. He will change something during a game if it’s not working. Tactically, they are really flexible, that’s the main thing you have to know. The most dangerous thing is, when they win the ball, RB Leipzig play vertical and they don’t care if they don’t have possession because they know when they win the ball they play quick to Werner, Emil Forsberg, Yussuf Poulsen, Schick – it doesn’t matter who plays because they have so much pace on the wings with Nkunku and lots of players who can make the difference.”

Konrad Laimer

RB Leipzig midfielder

“It's a shame that good players like Kane and Son are out for Spurs. I always want to play against the best. But it is how it is. As a kid, I always dreamed of games like this. Of course, it's going to be a highlight. The excitement for the game is massive. We know how we want to play and will try to implement that plan.”

Harry Winks

Spurs midfielder

“It’s important we don’t dwell on (the news that Heung-Min Son is out) because it’s not really going to benefit us. We’ve had a bit of an up and down kind of season, there’s been times where it’s been against us and probably in the last few years it’s been like that as well, but we’ve still managed to dig in, get results and find ways of winning. I’m sure this game will be no different. The mentality of the squad is always to fight, to work hard and to do as well as we can to win and (tonight) will be no different.

“We’re the home team so it’s important that the fans get behind us, which I’m sure they will – they’re always fantastic. It’s a game where they’re probably going to have to be a little bit more patient, in the sense that we’ve probably not got a talisman as such that we would like, but we’ve still got top players in that final third who can help score goals and create chances for us. We’re a top side, we can always create chances.”

Jose Mourinho

Spurs Head Coach

“They’re a very good team, a very balanced team, huge squad, lots of options. They are able to play in different tactical systems, very fast, very dangerous on the counter-attack, they have three strikers in the squad but sometimes they play without them, to play just with fast players like (Timo) Werner and (Christopher) Nkunku like they did against Bayern Munich. They are a team that has goals coming from many different players, many different positions, solid and strong defensively, I would say a much, much better team than the name of let’s say a young club, an emerging club, has in this moment.”