Neither Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf nor manager Klaus Allofs were satisfied. Both left Dortmund’s Signal-Iduna Park with stern looks on their faces, not having liked what they saw. “We absolutely wanted to make our way up the table. That was our goal and we missed our chance to do that today,“ said Allofs. “If the opponent had been better than we would have accepted that. But we should not have lost today. This is very aggravating.“

Head coach Thomas Schaaf also thought there was more to be had for his team. “We could have won this game. But we were missing the clarity, concentration and calmness. And we kept making things difficult for ourselves. Still, we had some chances to take the lead. And if you score the goal then the game goes totally differently.“

Manager Allofs was disturbed by the team’s inability to convert on their chances. “We had a number of opportunities to take the lead. And in this kind of game you have to score that goal. You can really make the opposition frantic then. But we didn’t have the patience and made too many mistakes. That’s why we are where we are in the standings.“

Did it have anything to do with the full calendar of the past few weeks with games in the UEFA Cup, Bundesliga and German Cup? “Of course having a mid-week game doesn’t help in being crisp. But we ran really well today. And I didn’t see any difference between us and our opposition. And the team pushed forward until the final whistle. We were just missing some crispness mentally.“