Ole Werner: “We didn’t start the game well. We had lots of problems and gave away lots of silly chances. We also lost our grip just before half time. If you give the opposition so many opportunities with the ball, you have to control your own phases of possession better. We had some hair-raising moments when we gave the ball away today, with these often ending in counter attacks. We were lucky for a long time and fortunate as well to have gone into the lead. The equaliser was, again, down to giving away possession and not closing up the space in front of our defensive line. It was a shame because we had actually calmed the game down quite well after our opener. So, it was even more painful to break our structure and give the ball away unnecessarily. In possession, we just made too many simple mistakes. But we countered well ourselves today, which was important. All in all, we’ve had better games, but in terms of our mentality and our fight, it was a really good performance.”
Mitchell Weiser: “It was a feisty game. But we already knew that heading into fixture with both teams playing five at the back and with similar positioning. We didn’t get into the game all that well and had to do a lot of running, but it’s great that we were able to pull out the win at the end there. As long as it’s 1-1, you always believe there is still one more goal to be had and we want to force out the win, even if we haven’t had that many great chances. Hoffenheim had a few opportunities themselves. But in a back-and-forth stage like that, it’s all about making the most of your chances.”
Leonardo Bittencourt: “It could have gone either way. I think we defended well. In the end, we got the penalty because we kept pushing. That is our philosophy, our style of play. Of course, it can backfire at times and you can easily lose a game like that. But today, it went our way, and we were rewarded. You don’t rewarded just because you get gifted something – it’s the hard work that goes into it that is the part that is rewarded. Plus, at the moment, we have a bit of luck on our side.”