He said what? The Bundesliga Matchday 34 trainer soundbites
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 [...]
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 34.
Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Mainz
Edin Terzic: “Before I talk about the game, I would like to congratulate FC Bayern. It’s the most honest title you can win. If you’re up there after 34 matchdays, it doesn’t matter how it comes about then you deserve it.
“Forgive me that it’s not easy for me to give an analysis that does justice to the game and the emotions. After conceding the second goal, you realized how heavy the ball was, how heavy your legs were. At half-time you could tell that the boys really still believed in it, that this season is really so crazy. You can see how tough this sport can be, which we fall in love with. It’s tough when you end up missing a goal. It hurts a lot.”
Bo Svensson: “We didn’t win the game, but that’s irrelevant when I see that my boys have run 130 kilometres here. You don’t experience something like today that often. We scored the goal with the first chance, they missed a penalty, a lot went against them too.
“I didn’t think they were nervous, but that we caused them problems. Of course there is sympathy, I have to represent Mainz 05, I get paid for that , but when I put myself in the shoes of the Dortmund players and the team: it must be brutal.”
Köln 1-2 Bayern Munich
Steffen Baumgart: “The whole league had enough chances this year to stop Bayern. That didn’t work out. From my point of view, we also had one or two chances in the game to be a stumbling block. Whoever is at the top deserves it. We respect that, we accept that, all of us in the league have the opportunity to work in such a way that there might be another German champion one day. But we all have to do that work hard, so congratulations to Bayern.”
Thomas Tuchel: “When Leroy didn’t put the ball in, I actually thought this game describes the entire phase in which I was responsible now and then maybe for the whole season. But today we showed another reaction – Jamal put another exclamation mark – it’s indescribable.
“The game also showed what we need to do better. We have to become more goal-oriented and focused.”
RB Leipzig 4-2 Schalke
Marco Rose: “We wanted to end the season with a successful game, get a good feeling for the DFB Cup final and help Christopher Nkunku win the goalscoring cannon. We have succeeded.
“We will now prepare for the final in Berlin and do everything we can to win the game against Eintracht Frankfurt. I wish Thomas Reis and FC Schalke 04 all the best for the coming season. The club belongs in the Bundesliga and played an unbelievable second half of the season. My coaching colleague did a great job there. Schalke challenged us again today. It was an open duel. We then counterattacked from behind when Schalke played for the third goal.”
Thomas Reis: “The guys from Leipzig made life very difficult for us, they had a lot of grip right from the start. We tried to stop their game. We didn’t do that very well in the first phase of the game, which meant we were 0-2 behind. After that, I can’t blame my team. The game was a reflection of the season, the relegation didn’t come about because of today’s game.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to our fans, who are at Champions League level for me. Anyone who works for Schalke 04, knows this club and knows that a hardworking mentality is required. I tried to work hard with the team to show the fans that we are a unit and that we can perform as best we can.
“We managed that properly in the second half of the season, unfortunately despite that we haven’t achieved our goal. I feel sorry for our supporters, but when you know that you have such a fanbase behind you, everything is there to rectify what happened today as soon as possible and come back. Now is the time to lick the wounds in order to emerge stronger from this situation.”
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Hoffenheim
Sebastian Hoeneß: “We are disappointed with the result, not so much with the game. We had good chances to take the lead in the first half. At the same time we allowed little. We made one or two adjustments in the second half and had good chances. But there was always a touch of precision missing. Then something happens that shouldn’t happen and we fall behind with the opponent’s first shot in the second half. That was a slap in the neck. But we once again showed a strong reaction.
“It took five minutes for us to equalize. After that we still had a number of chances in the goal area, but at the same time we had to be careful not to concede another goal.
“There were three scenarios before the game: we’ll stay in the league, we’ll go into relegation or we’ll be relegated. When I started here relegation was a real option. Over the next 180 minutes we will make it perfect for staying in the league. We are approaching this undertaking with full conviction.”
Pellegrino Matarazzo: “Today was the first undeserved point since I’ve been here in Hoffenheim. We were too slow in terms of play in the first half, we didn’t press aggressively enough and we didn’t have the grip we wanted in the second half either. But the team showed character and fought for the point. We’re sure of staying in the league, we can take the break and make good decisions for the coming season.”
VfL Bochum 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Thomas Letsch: “Nobody needs an analysis of the game today. We’re happy and so are those out there. The table at the end reflects the season. We always believed in ourselves. It had to be on the 34th matchday be, it felt like that. It was clear to us: If we win, we’ll at least have the relegation place for sure.”
Xabi Alonso: “We just wanted to take care of ourselves and win so as not to be dependent on what happens in Wolfsburg. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. Bochum had one more player on the field for 85 minutes, but still we have created a few chances despite being outnumbered. The game doesn’t have to end 0:3.”
Union Berlin 1-0 Werder Bremen
Urs Fischer: “I have to let what we have achieved first sink in. It will be important that we stay true to ourselves, continue to show humility and modesty and not change too much. That will be the challenge . It was the tough game I expected. What I’m really proud of is how calm the team stayed. We deserved to win the game.”
Ole Werner: “It was the game you could expect. We defended it well for a long time. In the first half we didn’t put the ball enough on the pitch. In the end, we ran out of steam a little.”
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Freiburg
Oliver Glasner: “We are very happy. In the first half I was already cheering when Mario Götze tried to shoot – and then Ginter flew in from somewhere. It was difficult after going 0-1, we really needed a win. We played well, but didn’t have any chances. Then came the news that Hertha was leading. The stadium was there, faith was back. I was reminded of the saying “Faith moves mountains”.
“Of course we then went all in and switched to 4-4-2. After the 1:1 I had the feeling: We can still win! In the 85th minute I said to my bench: Today we have the lucky punch. Ultimately, Junior owed the goal to his lack of discipline, as he was not where he was supposed to be.
“Ultimately, the game shows once again what an incredible mentality this team has. I take my hat off to this group. The reward is European football. There is hardly a city or a club that lives Europe like Eintracht – whether Champions League or Conference League. We are, I’m not done yet – we want to get the trophy!”
Christian Streich: “The first half was balanced. In general there was one difference on the pitch: Kolo Muani. He bounces a second earlier and stays in the air two seconds longer, that’s just exceptional quality. We took the lead, that was okay. Then towards the end we had too many players who didn’t make it, we didn’t have the strength. So it was difficult at the back.
“We didn’t know how to change. Suddenly there was the constellation that Hertha was in the lead – and the Frankfurt players and the whole stadium knew it. That didn’t make it any easier. We gave everything, but we didn’t have the strength. That’s why we deserved to lose.”
VfL Wolfsburg 1-2 Hertha Berlin
Niko Kovac: “I’m very disappointed and deeply sad. We should never have lost the game. Our shots have to be more focused, we have to stop this negligence.”
Pal Dardai: “This time luck was finally on our side. Nobody likes going into the summer break with a loss. Next week there will be a discussion with the club about how things will continue at Hertha.”
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 Augsburg
Daniel Farke: “We could hardly have written a better script if we tried. It was a perfect finish to our season. We won the game, moved above Köln, added to our home record and gave the lads who are leaving the perfect farewell. I can only pay the team a huge compliment for that. We played an almost perfect game; we defended with intensity and made it really difficult for our opponents when they had possession.
“Both goals were beautifully worked. The second half was one we rather simply had to manage, and we lost a bit of tempo after the break, but overall, I’m pleased that we got another clean sheet.
Enrico Maaßen: “It was a very difficult game for us. We conceded early on and never really found our way back into the game. We lacked a bit of cleverness today, and weren’t able to put any more pressure on after the first or second goal, or the red card. Mönchengladbach did well today, but from our side, we didn’t fill the spaces well enough.
“We were forced into a couple of personnel changes, and whilst that shouldn’t be an excuse, it’s somewhat of an explanation. All in all, we’re happy to be remaining in the Bundesliga, and thankful for Hoffenheim getting a result today. You more often than not deserve to be where you are in the league after 34 games.”
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