The final whistle blows, and the dust settles on the previous ninety minutes. But the press soon wants to get the opinions from the Bundesliga trainers whether they have won, lost, or drawn. Here’s what they had to say following matchday 16.
Werder Bremen 1-1 RB Leipzig
Ole Werner: “The excellent performance today is even more impressive when you consider which players are missing and how little time we had to adapt to the changes. The team dealt with the situation really well, though.
“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t manage to convert our chances into a win. We showed character and picked up a thoroughly deserved point.”
Marco Rose: “In the end it’s a point in the last away game of the year. Of course we would have liked to win. I also think that the chances were there. We played a very good first half , we were dominant and had our chances. Then we allowed two really good chances for Bremen in five minutes.
Shortly after the break we score and take the lead. And then you know, of course, that a game like this in Bremen with this crowd is far from over . They have everything again thrown in and then it became a wild game at times. And it was precisely in this phase that we should have scored the second goal. The last pass was missing.
Bremen was still dangerous on the counterattack again and again. In a numerical advantage situation we conceded a long-range goal, Werder had the advantage. We worked hard to get the equaliser. We’re not happy, but it’s not easy here in Bremen.”
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Mainz
Edin Terzic: “In this game, we showed the two faces that we see far too often from our team. We had a great first half, enjoyed a lot of possession and were very effective in our pressing. We had the chance to take a bigger lead. Although we then conceded an equaliser just before the break, we resolved to remain as active in these areas and continue to execute our game plan cleanly and effectively.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that. We were very unsettled from the start, became very passive and had to defend a lot of counter-attacks. On top of that, we weren’t able to finish the game with eleven players due to Sébastien Haller’s injury. And yet we still came close to scoring the winning goal. We are heading into the winter break with this disappointment.”
Martin Schmidt (sporting director): “It was a game of two halves. We were dominated after a decent start in the first half and didn’t win enough tackles. We were fortunate to only be 1-0 down after the first half an hour. We then got one chance just before the break and scored our equaliser. That definitely unsettled Dortmund and gave us belief that we could get something from the game.
“The second half went differently, it was good from our perspective. We pressed them higher up the pitch and won the ball back more often. That led to three or four good chances and respect from the opposition. We were able to keep them away from our goal and kept things tight. It got a bit chaotic towards the end of the game and both teams could have scored at that point. We deserved a draw when you look at both halves. Our counter-attacks weren’t good enough – we were too impatient and sloppy. We could have won with a bit of luck, though we also were fortunate when they hit the bar.
“A win would obviously have done us the world of good. The relegation battle has fully begun for us now. This final point before the winter break will hopefully give everyone some belief and breathe new life into everyone. We’ll head home now and then sit down together in the next few days to speak and analyse everything. We’ll then announce what will happen next and what we decide to do about our head coach.”
Hoffenheim 3-3 Darmstadt
Pellegrino Matarazzo: “It was a deserved point for Darmstadt. I’m therefore not happy. We were far too passable in defence. The lads did not push through and sat too deep. We didn’t find the right solutions there. We stabilised in the second half but I’m not satisfied with our performance. Energy, freshness and verve – it was missing.
“Despite the performance, we had a huge opportunity to make it 4-2 and should’ve won. That’s very bitter. The team is also unsatisfied – with the result and the performance. It’s also difficult for me to process. We won’t achieve objectives like that. These slip-ups must not happen so often.”
Torsten Lieberknecht: “It’s a moment of happiness for us. We rewarded ourselves with an impressive team performance today. Apart from the conceded goals, we showed a very good structure and did not offer up much. The first two goals in particular were nicely created.
“This game makes up for what has happened in recent weeks. Today we picked up a point because the lads implemented what we set out to do. It was a great team performance. I believe that this draw will give us a lot of strength.”
Union Berlin 2-0 Köln
Nenad Bjelica: “I am very happy for the team, the fans and the whole club. After the first half of the season hasn’t been easy so far, these two home wins are simply good for us and give us self-confidence. Cologne also had a few good chances in the first half, but our goalkeeper Freddy played very well today. After the 1-0 win, we were the better team and deserved the win.”
Steffen Baumgart: “We were the better side for long periods of the game. We had chances to open the scoring, but Union took theirs.”
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfL Bochum
Xabi Alonso: “It wasn’t easy for us. Bochum played very courageously, very intensely and very aggressively. They almost ran at us one-on-one. We had problems finding a free player. But we knew that if we got into a good situation, it could be dangerous. With the first goal and the quick second goal from Patrik Schick the most difficult thing was done.
“After that we controlled the game well, played it down seriously and gave almost no chance. That was very important, not conceding a goal. We are satisfied with the performance and the result. We showed a very strong mentality. This is important for us, we deserve the break.”
Thomas Letsch: “Congratulations to Bayer Leverkusen on their victory and a fantastic round. We knew it would be hard to take anything here. You have to play at the limit for 90 minutes. We managed to cause problems for Leverkusen in the first 30 minutes today. We were brave, that was absolutely great. The penalty situation was annoying in that Patrik Schick climbed onto Manuel Riemann’s hand. This is very, very annoying for us.
“After that, Bayer naturally got rolling. When they have the space, their quality shines through. Then it becomes very, very difficult. With the score 3-0 at halftime, things were over. It was then a matter of playing a clean second half. We didn’t quite succeed. Nevertheless, we leave here with pride.”
VfL Wolfsburg 1-2 Bayern Munich
Niko Kovac: “The first ten minutes were okay. Then we didn’t do well and were too passive. We didn’t put up a real fight in the first half. With the changes in the second half we defended with a higher line and more aggressively. We showed a completely different face. Unfortunately, we didn’t reap the rewards for the effort we put in during the second half.”
Thomas Tuchel: “Huge credit to the players. In the end, it was a tough battle in the second half because we sadly lost control after conceding and the change of ends. That’s why we had to ensure that we defended cleanly to the end and we managed to do that. After the defeat in Frankfurt, we’ve now had three consecutive wins.
“That was a great reaction, especially with the injury and illness situation of our squad. We’re playing to our own limits. The points average is very good, and the team’s morale and attitude have been very good for many weeks. We have to keep working on ourselves and keep at it.”
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Dino Toppmöller: “We gave it our all once again, especially in the second half. You saw in the first half that we didn’t have the energy we would’ve liked. That’s understandable because we’re physically at our limit. I’m incredibly proud of the group’s character. Those are emotions that no money in the world can buy.
“The crowd were an important factor. It wasn’t our best performance, but they always stayed positive and spurred us on. That’s extremely powerful and it’s a win for all of us.”
Gerardo Seoane: “This defeat is very tough for us to take. When you’re ahead for so long and then completely throw it away in injury time, it’s extremely disappointing and also a bit frustrating. We performed well for long periods, were very compact and gave Frankfurt no room.
“At times, we also countered and played good football. Of course, the red card for Max Wöber had an impact on the game, but we should have defended the situations that led to the goals better, even with a man fewer.”
VfB Stuttgart 3-0 Augsburg
Sebastian Hoeneß: “We’re extremely happy with our performance tonight. My team delivered a great performance from start to finish. Augsburg tried to contain us with a high press in the first half, so we needed to be extremely alert. We scored our goals at the right moments tonight, so that the result is fully deserved in my opinion.
“We knew we couldn’t take our foot off the gas after the break, because 2-0 is a dangerous lead to have. We managed to see it through and I’m happy that we played the way we did in our final game of the year.”
Jess Thorup: “I’m disappointed that we didn’t deliver a better performance tonight. Stuttgart deservedly won the game, because they played with confidence. We should have been able to do the same after last weekend’s result against Dortmund, but there was nothing to be seen from then on the pitch tonight.
“We were okay out of possession, but failed to create anything when we did have the ball. It’s definitely not the way we wanted to end the year and it will take a few days to process it.”
Heidenheim 3-2 Freiburg
Frank Schmidt: “I said it would be the crowning glory to end the year with a win against Freiburg. This means a lot to us because it was a difficult task and demanded everything from us. The team believed in themselves and showed no egoism.”
Christian Streich: “It was a back-and-forth game, really physical. But that’s good. We just weren’t brave enough after scoring in the first half. The second half was better, but there are a couple of issues in defence and in attack that we need to address. Heidenheim played really well – they knew that we weren’t fully in control.”
