The Spaniard coach acknowledged that Last season was unique. He wants to use the positive energy for what the team will face but understands that they are starting from scratch again. In summarizing the preseason, the Spaniard said, “We didn’t really focus on the friendlies’ outcomes. Many athletes returned from the European Championships belatedly. Some required an additional training session to catch up. We rotated and tried a lot of different things because we will need all of our players again in the upcoming season. We have enough talented players on the team to give ourselves the best chance of winning tomorrow. We are totally concentrated.”
Similar to the previous campaign, Alonso gave VfB Stuttgart’s opponents a very high rating, saying, “I like their approach and the football Sebastian Hoeneß (VfB head coach, ed.) has them playing.” They possess courage both on and off the court. Stuttgart is respected, and they have every right to be in this final.”