Four questions with Schumann and Krahn

Thursday's UEFA Women's Champions League final may be a cross-border affair between 1. FFC Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain but a strong German thread runs through both squads.

Naturally, most of the Frankfurt team hail from their home country, but Germany also provide Paris with Josephine Henning, Fatmire Alushi, Linda Bresonik, Ann-Katrin Berger and Annike Krahn. We sat down with defender Krahn and Frankfurt goalkeeper Desirée Schumann and asked them four identical questions ...

UEFA.com: What would it mean to win the final?

Desirée Schumann: To win the Champions League is the biggest and best thing you can experience in football, for any player. For me it's something special because I am originally from Berlin. Another important thing for us is that we would seal Champions League qualification [for next season] by winning it. But I am sure all our players want to lift that trophy. It would be really great if it actually happens.

Annike Krahn: The club have never reached the Champions League final before, so it means a lot. Just being in the final is already historic, but it would be even nicer if we could win it.

UEFA.com: What will you do tomorrow in the build-up to the game – will you be able to treat it as a normal matchday?

Schumann: First of all, the final starts at 18.00 so we have more time compared with Bundesliga matches [which kick off earlier]. I normally like to get onto the pitch as soon as possible, because I am hot and want to start playing. But you have to wait until 18.00. So you have breakfast, lunch, then a little warm-up, a little bit of sweating, and it becomes a long day. So it is different to normal. But at 18.00 more people can watch it on TV, so that is fine.

Krahn: No, I think things will go the same as for a normal game – we are preparing as meticulously as we do for all our matches. Of course we know it is just a one-off game, not home and away, we know it is a final and that it means a lot. But all in all, there is no difference in terms of preparation.

UEFA.com: Are you looking forward to playing against many fellow Germans in the other team tomorrow?

Annike Krahn©AFP/Getty Images

Schumann: That is football – or sport in general. You always run into people who have been with you at other stages of your career, and then you go your separate ways. That happens often in sport, bumping into people again. Meetings like that are special, so I am really looking forward to seeing Josephine [Henning], Lire [Alushi], Linda [Bresonik] and also Annike, and to playing against them.

Krahn: Yes, of course. When we got to the stadium [for training on Wednesday] I saw some players and I'll be happy to see them again, even if I will see many of them next week with the national team too. So that's not the most important thing here.

UEFA.com: Looking back on your career and given that you are now playing a Champions League final, which people are you most thankful to? Which people have helped you the most to be where you are now?

Schumann: That would be my parents, I have to say. My parents and my family have always supported me. And I've always had some great coaches – Bernd Schröder, Sven Kallert or Colin Bell now, these are coaches who have influenced me. And more specifically, the goalkeeping coaches – I have to name Andre Wächter who has supported me a lot and has helped me a lot for three years. There are several, I cannot describe anyone in particular. But my parents have known me for 25 years now and they've always been by my side.

Krahn: That is a very difficult question, but I would say it has to be my family and friends.