SC Magdeburg has already secured the Champions League quarter-finals. Nevertheless, the defending champions remain in attack mode. At Wisla Plock, in addition to the clean slate of the premier class, it is also about further self-confidence for the Bundesliga.
SC Magdeburg is known to be very familiar with travel stress. It’s not every day that coach Bennet Wiegert’s team rushes from appointment to appointment with two away games within 48 hours against two real benchmarks. On Thursday evening (8:45 p.m. in the audio stream and live ticker) there is the away game in the premier class at Wisla Plock, before the Bundesliga game at MT Melsungen continues on Saturday evening (8 p.m. in the live ticker).
Wiegert wants to “win every game”
Realistically speaking, the game in the Bundesliga has more significance with a view to the title fight. After all, the SCM already has a direct entry into the quarter-finals of the Champions League in its pocket. However, Wiegert does not want to switch to administration mode. “Anyone who knows us knows that we are a team that really wants to win every game – no matter what it is about. That’s our mindset, that’s our mentality. We’ll make the most of that in Plock,” said the 44-year-old.
It’s no secret that Magdeburg’s successful coach can’t help but always go into the next game with the absolute will to win. Especially since there are still goals in the group stage of the Champions League. On the one hand, the SCM is still on the verge of ending the exhausting preliminary round with a clean slate. On the other hand, the duel with FC Barcelona is still about winning the group.
SC Magdeburg was only able to win the first leg against Wisla Plock by a tiny margin.
For Plock “it’s about more than it is for us”
The foundation for this can be laid in Plock. Like the SCM, the Polish top team had set the goal of reaching one of the first two places. Three game days before the end of the group phase, coach Xavi Sabaté’s team is already eight points behind Magdeburg and six behind Barcelona. For Plock it is now important to secure third place so that they can play the second leg at home in the round of 16. Accordingly, “it’s about more for them than it is for us,” Wiegert also knows.
In terms of sport, the Polish champions are by no means underestimated. The SCM won the first leg in Magdeburg 27:26but Plock turned around a five-goal deficit in the last nine minutes. “Plock has already proven its strength several times this season. The first leg wasn’t easy for us, and it certainly won’t be any easier to play against them in their arena,” warned Wiegert.
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