Keller: 'They surprised even me'
Munich - Even FC Schalke 04 head coach Jens Keller was surprised at how well his team reacted to going a goal down to Hamburger SV before seeing out a comfortable victory, while SC Freiburg’s Christian Streich was the recipient of some high praise indeed from FC Bayern Munich’s Jupp Heynckes. Here’s what the coaches had to say after taking in Matchday 31’s action.
FC Schalke 04 4-1 Hamburger SV
Jens Keller (FC Schalke 04): We weren’t in the game in the first few minutes and conceded a goal from a set piece that we really wanted to avoid, but then even I was surprised how my team came back into the game. Credit should go to [Hamburg goalkeeper] Rene Adler for playing so well. I think if you consider the chances we had, we could have won by a bigger margin.
Thorsten Fink (Hamburger SV): We had the game under control in the first few minutes, and everything was going according to plan until we conceded. We let Schalke back into it through mistakes of our own making. We didn’t play with enough nous and we deserved to lose the game. Schalke showed much more in attack than we did in the second half and had a striker in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who was always exactly where a striker needs to be.
1. FSV Mainz 05 0-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Thomas Tuchel (1. FSV Mainz 05): We drew 0-0, which means we didn’t manage to win the game. According to the statistics, we had 15 shots on goal, but I don’t know if even two of them were on target. Again we were lacking efficiency, penetration and quality. We have a point. There’s not much else to say.
Armin Veh (Eintracht Frankfurt): Both teams contributed to a very intense, competitive game, even if it wasn’t technically the best. Both sides might have done better in certain situations, but in terms of commitment it was a good match. It’s a good point for us that maintains our lead over Mainz in the table.
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Norbert Meier (Fortuna Düsseldorf): Unfortunately it’s another game where we’ve taken nothing. My team not only fought extremely well, we also played some very good football at times. Dortmund scored two great goals, but we believed in ourselves right to the end. It will be very tight at the bottom, and it’s not a nice feeling to know that we’re involved. But my players’ heads are still up; we just need to rediscover our efficiency.
Jürgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund): I’m proud of the players, they did a great job today. We had chances to score more, but Mitch [Langerak] had to make some saves to keep his unbelievable run going [having been on the winning side in all nine of his competitive appearances for Dortmund]. Düsseldorf came at us strongly towards the end, which we expected, but we’ve won the game and now we can go home satisfied.
FC Bayern Munich 1-0 SC Freiburg
Jupp Heynckes (FC Bayern Munich): I warned my players about Freiburg before the game, because the work that Christian Streich has done there is sensational, built up over a number a years. It was hard work for us today, but my team deserve a great compliment. We played very cleverly and professionally.
Christian Streich (SC Freiburg): I’m not satisfied with the result: when games are as tight as that, you want more at the end of it. Today we played as defensively as I’ve ever seen us play, but there isn’t really any other way to play against Bayern, as they’re such a flexible team. In the end, though, they fully deserved the victory.
Greuther Fürth 2-3 Hannover 96
Frank Kramer (Greuther Fürth): We played some great football and showed a lot of passion. Unfortunately, though, we weren’t as clinical in front of goal as Hannover were. They didn’t need many chances to score their goals. It’s a very bitter defeat to accept. I can’t criticise the team too much, other than to say that they needed to be more ruthless in front of goal.
Mirko Slomka (Hannover 96): It was a very competitive game, almost like a Cup game in the second half, with lots of room for both teams. We managed to do something that we haven’t been able to for a good few weeks and that was to take our chances. Of course we had a bit of luck and Ron-Robert Zieler was excellent for us.
