Voices on the game... RB Leipzig away

What are the latest opinions from Germany ahead of tonight’s Champions League round of 16, second leg against RB Leipzig? Here are the ‘Voices on the game’...

Yvonne Gabriel

RB Leipzig reporter for Bild

“The last two matches weren’t that successful for RB Leipzig – two draws – so the situation is not as good as it was before the first match but the team is very ambitious and wants to win the second game because it would be an historic moment for the team. The club is only 10-and-a-half years old and many of the players have been here for a long time, so they want to reach the next round.

“In the first half of the season, RB Leipzig were performing better away than at home, so a little bit different from what you would expect, but they are very strong at home with their supporters behind them. The stadium will be close to sold out and they have a lot of confidence because they won in Tottenham – that was a big success for the team – and they have a good plan. They also don’t want to concede a goal against them but in comparison to Tottenham they don’t have new problems with players being injured. In the first match they showed what they are able to do, even though they had problems with absent players – the defender, Dayot Upamecano, had his third yellow card so he wasn’t able to play, but they’ve solved this problem now and he’s available.”

Julian Nagelsmann

RB Leipzig manager

“Each one of us will push themselves to the limit. It's not often that you play Spurs in the Champions League round of 16 and have the chance to progress to the quarter-finals. We are hoping to deliver a similar performance to our display in London. I don't think too much about what it would feel like to beat (Jose) Mourinho – I think about how nice it would be if we get past Tottenham. As I have said before, I am not at eye level with Mourinho. I am not sure if I will be able to win as many titles in my career as he has.

“A good goalkeeper is always important. When two good teams play each other, it is possible there will only be a few chances. I am very happy to have Péter Gulácsi, but I am not so happy that Tottenham have Hugo Lloris, because he is also a great keeper.”

Lukas Klostermann

RB Leipzig defender

“It's a special game, but I'm not more nervous than usual. We made a good start in the first leg. We really want to win and get through to the next round. Spurs have a dangerous team and they are strong on the break. We did well in the first leg, and I'm sure we'll do well (tonight).”

Dele Alli

Spurs midfielder

“They’re a very good side, it’s going to be a very tough game and we know that but we have to go into the game with a very positive attitude. We have to be on the front foot but at the same time not be stupid and throw it away. We have to be clever and take our moments and play well. We know that when they came to our place, they played very well, dominated the game for a lot more than what we’d have liked but we’ve been in situations that were probably worse than this where we’ve had to turn it around and we’ve done that, so we have to go in there with belief. Like I said, they’re a very good side, they’re a top side with a lot of top players so we have to be switched on throughout the whole game, but at the same time we have to believe.”

Jose Mourinho

Spurs Head Coach

“I’m very motivated, I’m very calm, I’m very positive but if you want to imagine Leipzig without Werner, Schick, Nkunku, Poulsen, Forsberg – I’m pretty sure the coach wouldn’t be (as jovial) as I am now. The situation of course is not easy. We feel hurt by the fact that we recovered 11 points in a short period of time to fourth position in the Premier League and then we arrive into a situation where we are really, let’s say, in trouble. But this is one game, we are losing 1-0 at half-time, we were losing 1-0 at half-time two days ago, it’s something that happened to us a few times during the season and we have the second half to play. We go with everything we have. You can ask me how can you score two goals minimum without Kane, Son, Bergwijn? There are many ways to score goals. Anything is possible, we are very positive.”