Ilzer: "We are ready"

Christian Ilzer on...

... the preparation: "It was actually a short phase, only ten days. But that is a luxury. It was very productive, we used the days very well to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. We want to work on our principles and incorporate them into our DNA. That's coming together better and better. We're ready for Wolfsburg."

...the opposition: "We've already played against Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal, they have a lot of pace and a good target man in Jonas Wind. Wolfsburg defend very well as a team and have had very good results aside from the last two games. It won't be an easy match, but we have to be confident that we can win at home. That will be very important. We haven't won in seven games. We want to get a lot of things moving in the right direction. The defeat in the cup was painful, now we're one step further."

...the importance of the opening game of the year: "The next game is always the most important. We want to start the year with a sense of achievement. Winning gives you the most confidence and we've been missing that for a long time. We didn't go into the break with a good feeling after the defeat against Mönchengladbach. Nevertheless, it was a good performance and showed us that things can work out. Now we want to turn it into results."

...the personnel situation: "We've had a few cases of illness, but now everyone is back. There are also a few muscular problems, but apart from the long-term absentees, we can probably draw from the full squad. Umut Tohumcu and Marius Bülter are still out, but are close to making their returns to team training."

...the warm-up match against FC Augsburg: "It was important to play a friendly against a Bundesliga team in competitive conditions. We saw things that we want to improve on and things that we were happy with. The match was an important building block for our development."

... the new signings: "The new players have fitted in well. They've quickly built up a lot of confidence. Both Gift Orban and Erencan Yardimci have made good progress."

Head-to-head record:

The two clubs have already met in the DFB Pokal this season. VfL Wolfsburg ran out 3-0 winners in the Round of 16, while the overall record also favours the team from Lower Saxony, who have won 16 of the 34 meetings compared to ten for TSG (plus eight draws).

The opposition's form:

After a mixed start, VfL Wolfsburg enjoyed a very good run of form from the end of November and remained unbeaten in eight consecutive competitive matches. However, coach Ralph Hasenhüttl's team lost away to SC Freiburg (3-2) and at home to Borussia Dortmund (3-1) to close out 2024.

Match facts and statistics »