Tuchel: 'Happy to be back on the pitch'

THE SQUAD
"The 7 players that are positive for COVID will be missing. Kalimuendo came back from international duty with an injury and we will see how he feels at training. We have several U19 players available, and Sergio Rico is not qualified. I hope Draxler, Kehrer, Dagba, Bulka and Bakker will be in good shape. We hope to have some players back for Sunday, but we'll have to start with some small individual training. The most important thing is the health of the players, we have to manage these situations with a lot of responsibility."

PREPARATIONS
"We gave the players a holiday because they needed it, after 20 days together you need to rest, to clear your head. We work to find solutions and it's more complicated with seven players missing. We trained in small groups and we didn't play any friendly matches. We have to find solutions, and we'll do it for tomorrow, as we always do."

LENS
"They played a very good first match against Nice, they could have won. They play 5-2-1-2, they play compact in the middle and at the back, their defence is proactive and physical. It is a historic stadium, with a large public, and it is sad not to be able to play there in classic conditions. It won't be easy, our last match was the Champions League final, it will be hard to get back into the rhythm right away, we will have to give our best on the pitch, but we won't be able to be at our best. It will be a tough match, and a tight one, we want to win every match, I have confidence in my players, we will do our best!"

VERRATTI
"He's done all the training with us, he feels good, he's not completely 100%, but he's ready to play. Maybe not 90 minutes but his progress is good. We also have to be careful with him, because we can't use him non-stop for 10 days, we also have to be careful. He is very positive and shows a lot of beautiful things on the pitch."

SPIRIT
"It's a bit strange to start the season with this very difficult match in Lens, we've just come out of several finals and then we are straight back into league action. Without really having time to prepare and test ourselves. But I'm always happy to be back on the pitch with my players, even if starting directly with a competitive match in Lens, it will be tough."