Rolfes: 'Everybody in the team is contributing'

…the consistent performances so far this season in spite of the crowded fixture list: Other elements play an important role here. On the one hand, everything is easier in life and sport if you're successful. On the other, we've rotated regularly and shared the burden on many shoulders – and that without losing any quality. And even if it's often a cliché, it's helped us more than ever with the large number of games within a short space of time that we’ve only ever focused on the next game and not looked too far into the future.

…possible conclusions from the narrow 2-1 defeat against FC Bayern: I'm not expecting any negative consequences from the defeat. It was annoying. But it can happen that you lose a game. And that one match doesn't change anything about the fundamental development and stability of the team. I'm happy we’re not only in a very good position in the table at the moment but also that we've clocked up the second most points after Bayern in 2020.

…the defensive performance of the Werkself: Everybody in the team is contributing and that includes the strikers. The lads are very compact and above all very smart. The team has taken a very big step in the right direction in this area and looks very solid in relation to possible counter-attacks from the opponents.

…the development of the youngster Florian Wirtz: This year was almost picture-perfect for him. He didn't have any school in spring due to the pandemic and the lockdown and was therefore able to regularly train with the first team for several weeks. When he signed for us last winter it was clear to us he would play an important role at the club one day. But you couldn't predict it would happen so quickly. Particularly as you shouldn't expect such a rapid development from a 17-year-old.

…the strike partnership of Patrik Schick and Lucas Alario: Both are very good at finishing and are real goal-getters. On top of that, they are both currently in very good form. And yet they are different types of players. That makes us a very flexible and unpredictable in that position.

…the forthcoming departure of Lars and Sven Bender: Even though I can understand their motivation, it's obviously a great shame that both are finishing at the end of the season. We would have been happy to agree extensions with them once again and that's no secret. With them, two important elements of the team are leaving us and Lars, above all, has definitely helped write the history of Bayer 04. But everything keeps on going in football. And in the past few years we've shown we can compensate for departures as with Julian Brandt and Kai Havertz for example. And we’ll do the same this time. Departures also provide more room for manoeuvre in the hierarchy of the team. And I can see one or two players in the current squad who definitely have the ability to grow into an important role.

…potential new signings in the winter: The squad have shown in the games up to now that we have a lot of quality in depth. And the lads who were supposed to be left behind have done very well. Therefore, we'll go about it with a very fine touch.

…targets for next year: Of course, our primary aim is and remains qualification for the Champions League. In addition, we want to continue to have players who have maximum ambition and want to play for the best clubs in the world at some point. We aim to keep players like that at Bayer 04 as long as possible. We can do that with success as that always makes clubs more attractive.