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 23.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Mainz
Xabi Alonso: “It was a very intense game. Mainz came with good energy. We were prepared for it, but it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t our best game, but the three points are very important. We can now enjoy the weekend a bit and then we can move on.”
Martin Schmidt (sporting director): “It was a good, courageous performance in many phases. We survived the quarter of an hour before the break, when Leverkusen were pressing. Unfortunately, we helped the opponent a little. That’s of course a shame if you have the chance to steal a point from a top opponent. We had two or three chances to make up for the goals we conceded.
“Robin has saved us so many times this season. He will do the same in the next games. No blame at all on him, he kept us in the game with his saves in the first half. We will build him up again for the home game against Mönchengladbach. Everyone can be sad today, but from tomorrow on we will focus on the good performance. We have shown that we can keep up with such an opponent.”
Union Berlin 2-2 Heidenheim
Nenad Bjelica: “It was a very open game. Both teams had phases in which they were very strong; Heidenheim could have improved, especially in the first half. We came back strongly and then unfortunately conceded the equaliser. But that’s football, sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes you’re unlucky.”
Frank Schmidt: “It was similar last week when we were behind at half-time, even though we hadn’t expected it. The task was to then rebuild the team, align it and not assign blame. In the second half it was an open exchange of blows. We are the promoted side, are 2-1 behind, Union have won the last four games at home. But we didn’t give in and did everything we could to get this point again. And in the end we really deserved it.”
Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-2 VfL Bochum
Gerardo Seoane: “It was a real emotional rollercoaster with a lot of goals. We didn’t get off to the best start. We were then more direct going forward, created a lot of clear-cut chances and defended very well. I’m happy that we were able to put in such a good performance for the entire 90 minutes.
“We continued to play attacking-minded football until the final whistle and weren’t fazed when we conceded. I’m also thrilled that we had five different goal scorers today. It was especially great to see Stevie Lainer get his first full 90 following his absence, and he put in a strong performance to top it off.”
Thomas Letsch: “We started really well, and approached the game as we had planned. After we scored our opener, which was disallowed, we won the ball back on many occasions and had a good number of clear-cut chances. However, the opposition started to pile on the pressure and we kept giving the ball away easily. In these phases of the game, Gladbach were the better team and scored their opener after a nice set-piece routine. We allowed them too much time on the ball, so we really didn’t have a great first half.
“We set our sights high after the break, but instead of getting one back, we conceded the third goal and things got crazy. We still kept the faith after that, but it wasn’t enough to come away with any points. Borussia deserved to win today.”
Werder Bremen 1-1 Darmstadt
Ole Werner: “It feels like two points to few because we expected three points in a home game. We weren’t consistent enough in many things. In the second half we played more or less for a goal until the 70th minute and clearly controlled the opponent. But we then have to create clearer final situations. After that, things got wild – the next step in development is to remain calm and clear even in phases like this.”
Torsten Lieberknecht: “Unfortunately it only became one point. Nevertheless, it is a point that must continue to give us strength. We showed today that we were very resilient – as long as we kept order. Defensively, I saw a good game from us. When we concede a goal, we don’t push through the chain properly. The creation was the problem, not the own goal itself.
“In the second half we no longer wanted to hold the ball for so long, but instead wanted to play forward with one or two touches in order to create scoring opportunities. The fact that it wasn’t enough today was due to millimetre decisions.”
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Köln
Sebastian Hoeneß: “We didn’t produce a top-class performance today and we’re obviously disappointed with the result. Köln played well, especially in defence. We lost possession too easily. The goal we conceded is frustrating. In the end, we were even fortunate not to lose the game. It’s not a defeat and we’ll have to live with the point. Who knows how valuable it’ll end up being.”
Timo Schultz: “It’s a point won for us. We knew that a strong opponent awaited us. We invested a lot in defence and all the boys did well. At the end we could have even used the Lucky Punch. But a point in Stuttgart is worth a lot.
“We’d be happy to take it with us. As the second half progressed, we broke free every time we won the ball and became more courageous. We still have to improve with the ball, we know that. But we also played against Stuttgart today.”
Bayern Munich 2-1 RB Leipzig
Thomas Tuchel: “We played a very good first half and missed taking a two-goal lead. The second half was complicated because Leipzig played stronger and we were no longer able to close the spaces like we did in the first half. We scored the goal when Leipzig was in control. Then we showed a good reaction after the 1-1 draw.
“It was a close game against a strong opponent. But in the end we deserved to win. At times it was very even, but overall we were very focused and very grippy. It was a good performance. The win was good for us and should be the basis for the game against Freiburg. We have to step up now.”
Marco Rose: “We didn’t play well enough in the first half to earn a goal. We weren’t active or intense enough, didn’t have enough movement with the ball. We got better in the second 45 minutes. We got off to a good start We came into the dressing room and had two good opportunities straight away.
“We reacted well to being behind. I had the feeling that we were even getting a taste of the lucky punch. We still had good approaches and opportunities. In the end we didn’t pay attention and lost the game .We deserved at least a point based on the second half.”
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg
Dino Toppmöller: “Of course we wanted to play a bit better football – which wasn’t easy today – and we want to win games. It’s a spirited point which we’ll take with us and gives us something to build on. All in all, after several difficult weeks involving midweek fixtures, I’m proud of the performance and the fact we fought back twice against rested opponents who have racked up the most intensive runs in the league.”
Niko Kovac: “We saw a good Bundesliga game today with a lot of advantages for us in the first half. In the second half, too, we wanted to score a third goal but gave away too many easy balls, which made it fairly easy for Eintracht to defend. Then the goal for 2-2 came from a chance which was slightly worse than the one for Knauff before. Overall the result is fair and deserved.”
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Hoffenheim
Edin Terzic: “We started the game extremely nervous. After we had to digest the early goal, we showed a very good reaction and did a lot of things very well – both in possession of the ball and in remaining defence. In the second half we started extremely poorly again, completely inviting the opponent to come back into the game. It wasn’t until late that we were able to shape the game so that we could create scoring chances. It was entirely our own fault for letting the opponent get back into the game.”
Pellegrino Matarazzo: “ “We did not play good football in the first half, even though we started really well. We then had too many simple possession losses and had to invest too much in the press. We changed the structure at the break and turned the game around as a result. I felt a sense of unity on the pitch, hence why I’m happy for the lads.
“The decisive factor was that we managed to stop Dortmund’s quick players from dribbling at our defence in the second half. We’ve had so many games in recent weeks that we could’ve won; we’ve been through a tough spell. But the lads always kept their heads up and they were rewarded for that today.”
Augsburg 2-1 Freiburg (Sunday)
Jess Thorup: “That was exactly the reaction I was hoping for after the game in Mainz. We talked a lot about mindset and mentality and I saw a team that controlled the game and thought offensively from the first minute – the statistics also show that. Unfortunately we fell behind 0-1 again, but we showed good morale and character and deservedly got three points. I’m very happy about that because we played very well. The substitutes also made a difference today.”
Lars Voβler: “Congratulations to Augsburg. It was a deserved victory. We had two intense weeks and knew exactly what to expect. Augsburg was razor sharp today. Our tank was empty at the back, I don’t want to blame the team.”
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