Veh: 'Football can be cruel sometimes'
Munich - Matchday 25 in the Bundesliga was another difficult weekend to be on the touchline, with emotions, and stakes, high at both ends of the table.
bundesliga.com summarises what the coaches made of the drama...
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-4 SC FreiburgArmin Veh (Frankfurt): The result is an absolute joke, but that's the way football is sometimes. I've been in the game long enough to have experienced it all before. Football can be cruel sometimes.
Christian Streich (Freiburg): Frankfurt played very well in the first half, and we didn't, but we've had lots of bad luck in recent months and this time we had luck on our side. It was the luckier team who won today, not the best one.
Hamburger SV 2-1 1. FC Nürnberg Mirko Slomka (Hamburg): It was a really exciting match and we created a lot of chances. We've now overtaken two teams, but that doesn't mean anything, other than the fact we have something to defend - a place above the relegation zone.
Gertjan Verbeek (Nürnberg): We held our own for 80 minutes, even though Hamburg were stronger and fought better than us. There was only one side deserving of the three points, and that was HSV.
FC Bayern München 2-1 Bayer 04 LeverkusenPep Guardiola (Bayern): We were up against a great side and we're delighted. We had a bit of luck in the first half, when we lost the ball a lot. The second half was much better. We now need just one or two more wins to defend our title, but we've got to keep our focus and keep the concentration high.
Sami Hyypiä (Leverkusen): You can never be happy after losing. We knew beforehand that we were going to have to defend well. It was unlucky that we fell behind just before the break. Schweinsteiger's free-kick was fantastic and you can't keep those out. We didn't have any energy left in the second half.
SV Werder Bremen 1-1 VfB StuttgartRobin Dutt (Bremen): This was a lucky point for us. Stuttgart played like we had been doing in recent weeks - they were transformed. We showed good character, although I've got to say our overall performance wasn't great. This is an important point because we've been able to keep Stuttgart at a safe distance.
Huub Stevens (Stuttgart): It's a shame we couldn't finish them off after taking the lead. I can be pleased with the way in which we played, but not with the result. We really should have rewarded ourselves, but the way we played is the way to go. If we carry on like this, then we'll get out of danger.
Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Borussia MönchengladbachJürgen Klopp (Dortmund): I've rarely seen us play as well as we did in the first half. I couldn't see much we’d done wrong to be 2-0 down, but we just lost those important tackles. I still had the feeling that we would level things in the second half, though.
Lucien Favre (Gladbach): It's been a tough time for us and obviously we're all hugely relieved. We desperately wanted to get something here, even if we knew how hard that would be. We scored the goals at the right time, but we still knew that it was going to be hard even leading 2-0 at the break. Dortmund were always dangerous, they had their fans right behind them and pressed us very well. We were on our last legs at times, particularly after the red card. It was hard, but what a fantastic win for us.
FC Augsburg 1-2 FC Schalke 04Markus Weinzierl (Augsburg): This is a really disappointing defeat. We played well but didn't have the luck we needed today. When you're as dominant as we were, and then you concede an equaliser, you need time to recover from the shock. We fought to the last minute, though, and we'll carry on this way. I'm sure we'll get the points we need.
Jens Keller (Schalke): We weren't really in the game in the first half. We didn't move the ball very well and we really struggled after going behind. We had a poor start to the season, in truth, but here we are now having gained a few more points on the sides at the top.
