Press conference before Pafos showdown: "We are not playing for a draw"

Press conference before Pafos showdown: "We are not playing for a draw"Danny Röhl and Kevin Boma ahead of the second leg in Cyprus

  At Alphamega Stadium – tomorrow's match venue – Danny Röhl and Kevin Boma answered questions at a press conference ahead of the Q3 second leg. After a slight delay in their arrival, our head coach and our centre-back took to the podium. The situation heading into the clash is clear. The 1-0 lead gives us a good foundation, but is too slender to count on.

Danny Röhl: "We are not playing for a draw"

Our coach made it clear from the outset that his team will by no means play passively, despite their aggregate lead:

The first leg was a very close match, which we ultimately won. Tomorrow, a new challenge awaits us. We are aware of Pafos's strength at home, as they already demonstrated against Split when they managed to turn a tie around. But it's primarily about us – about our intensity, our style of play, and our performance. A 1-0 lead is nothing in football. If you become too passive, you'll run into problems. For us, it's crucial to take control. We're not playing for a draw tomorrow - we want to win.

When asked about the injury situation and the workload of the past few days, our head coach pointed to the squad's depth:

We have a good squad and the quality to rotate. You saw that at the weekend: even if we make some changes, the quality on the pitch remains high. Tomorrow we'll need fresh legs again. It's important that we stay active at all times and can bring on reinforcements from the bench at the right moment to give us that extra boost.

Röhl also addressed the issue of converting chances – a much-discussed point in recent matches – openly:

We've analysed the games and seen how many good things we're already showing in our build-up play and transitions. Now it's about making the right decisions in the final third. This applies to passing to better-positioned team-mates as well as the necessary clinical finishing in front of goal. There's no room for selfishness. As long as we create these chances, I'm very optimistic. The goals will come.

The head coach also had words of praise for the defence, especially new signing Kevin Boma:

Kevin is currently putting in fantastic performances. He gives us tremendous stability, is strong in tackles, and extremely reliable in the back line. We have excellent co-ordination in defence and depth to the squad. If we keep a clean sheet, we always have the quality up front to score a goal.Kevin Boma: "I felt at home from day one"

This was centre-back Kevin Boma's first official press conference as a player for our Red Bulls. The new signing has immediately established himself as a pillar in our defence and is focused on tomorrow's challenge:

The key for tomorrow is sticking to our game plan, which we meticulously prepared during the week. We did many things well in the first leg and now we need to repeat that performance away from home. It won't be an easy game, but we know exactly what we need to do to reach the next round.

Regarding his quick integration into the team and his role in our defence, Boma added:

I feel extremely comfortable in Salzburg. The entire club and the team have given me a fantastic welcome, so I've felt at home from day one. Taking on a leadership role and helping the younger players with my experience was one of the reasons for my move. It's a natural process that I'm not forcing. I'm simply trying to perform and help the team as much as possible.All the info in our match preview

You can find out everything you need to know ahead of the match in our preview:

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