Sane: 'Gladbach are a tough nut to crack'
Gelsenkirchen - Having already scored three goals in the Bundesliga this season, FC Schalke 04 starlet Leroy Sane opened his UEFA Europa League account for the campaign with a superb equaliser against AC Sparta Praha on Thursday.
The Royal Blues were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against the Czech outfit, but Sane was far from downhearted after the match at the Veltins-Arena. Addressing the media at full-time, the 19-year-old spoke about Schalke's newfound self-belief under Andre Breitenreiter and Sunday's highly-anticipated Bundesliga clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
'I trust my instinct'
Question: Leroy Sane, you scored another lovely goal against Prague, but are you satisfied with Thursday’s result?
Leroy Sane: We’re happy with the 2-2 draw. We’ve come away with a point at least, but we could have had more. We can be satisfied with the point, though. We’re still top of the group and that’s where we want to stay.
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'We're all looking forward to Gladbach'
Question: It didn’t stop you from getting on the scoresheet, though. You arrived from deep, then ran onto a pass. It’s not the first time that this method has proved effective…
Sane: It’s true, we have practiced it. The coach always emphasises that the wide players or strikers should come from deep and create space with intelligent runs. I saw the space, Franco [Di Santo] played a great ball and that was it.
Question: What goes through your mind when you round the opposition goalkeeper with such ease?
Sane: (laughs) I don’t really think about it. I just trust my instinct. It’s worked every time so far!
Question: After the last few games your confidence must be sky-high…
Sane: Those games have given us a lot of self-belief. It’s also allowed us to gel even more as a team. Even if we go behind in games, we always believe we can recover. We never give up and always keep going.
Question: That self-belief might come in handy in the coming days when you take on Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga and in the DFB Cup…
Sane: Gladbach are on a great run at the moment. They’re very dangerous going forward and we’ll have to be on our toes. They're a tough nut to crack, but we’re all looking forward to the game. We’ll prepare well and I’m sure that we’ll get a positive result.
Dietmar Nolte reporting from Gelsenkirchen