Träsch: 'Happy to be third'
Six months ago, VfL Wolfsburg got the better of Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Cup final in Berlin. On Matchday 15, the two teams renew their rivalry in the Bundesliga with second travelling to third for a true six-pointer.
A win for the hosts would reduce their . bundesliga.com caught up with Wolfsburg defender Christian Träsch to discuss the mood in the pack ahead of the Super Saturday clash.
bundesliga.com: Christian Träsch, football fans all over the world are looking forward to this weekend, when the top four teams in the Bundesliga all meet. Gladbach host Bayern and you welcome Dortmund to the Volkswagen Arena. Do you expect the top four to be packed tighter together at the end of Matchday 15?
Christian Träsch: I hope so! We're only focusing on ourselves to start with, because Bayern are unreachable right now. But we want three points against Dortmund and that would edge us up towards them.
bundesliga.com: Between now and the winter break, Wolfsburg have three more matches in the Bundesliga and one in the UEFA Champions League. How would you rate your season so far?
'Dortmund have one of the best attacks in Europe'
Träsch: No. I was more surprised with how badly they dipped in the first half of last term, to be honest. We saw the real Dortmund in the second half of the season and in the DFB Cup final. Those games were evenly-matched. Like I said, we know how much quality is in Dortmund's ranks.
bundesliga.com: You've already touched on the attacking quality. As a defender, how do you plan on stopping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan?
Träsch: It's certainly not going to be easy. Dortmund have one of the best attacks in Europe so we're going to have to try to keep things tight across the park and not let Dortmund play their game. Then, we've got to build on our own strengths with our excellent transitions and try to get ourselves into good scoring positions. You can defend against Dortmund, as we've already seen in the Bundesliga.
bundesliga.com: Wolfsburg can also rely on their extraordinary strength at home – you have not lost at home for what will soon be two years. Is your success largely based on this dominance at home?
Träsch: Unfortunately, if you look at our form home and away, it speaks volumes. This is something we've got to improve in the coming weeks. Of course, we hope that we can extend our unbeaten record at home even further. We find it easier at home with our fans behind us and we want to show that again this Saturday.
Christian Träsch was talking to Tobias Gonscherowski
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