Xhaka: 'Long may it continue'
Mönchengladbach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen had put the ball in Borussia Mönchengladbach's court by beating VfB Stuttgart on Friday night, and the Foals smashed it right back at them with a convincing 2-0 win over Hannover 96 on Sunday.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
That win lifted them back into third place, two points clear of the Werkself and five ahead of fifth-placed FC Schalke 04. Understandably, the spirits were high in the one dressing room, but not particularly rosy in the other, as bundesliga.com found out...
Granit Xhaka: "This was a very good game from us and we were really aggressive. We were committed and determined right from the off and when you go into a game with that kind of attitude then you've always got a good chance of winning. We're extremely solid in defence and are playing really good football in attack, creating many chances. Long may it continue."
Martin Stranzl: "We played a good first half with lots of possession, but that was also due to the fact Hannover were pretty passive and conceded the ball to us a lot. When we did lose the ball, we were aggressive and fought to win it straight back. We should have wrapped it up earlier than we did, but we're delighted that we managed to get this important win in the end. We can certainly build on this excellent performance, particularly in defence."
Max Kruse: "We played a very good game and won it comfortably. We've not conceded a goal at home yet in the second half of the season and that just shows how strong we are at the back and what quality there is in the team. We could certainly improve on one or two situations in attack and we'll keep working on this. Nevertheless, we can build on this performance."
Tony Jantschke: "This was a very important win which I believe we fully deserved. I've got to pay the team a huge compliment. We focused on playing football, moved the ball around well and were clearly dominating the game. Hannover only really put us under any pressure for a few minutes at the start of the second half, otherwise we were always in control of the game and had plenty of chances."
Yann Sommer: "It was a dominant performance from us. We played attractive football and didn't concede many chances at the back once again. We did a fantastic job. If you play as dominant as we did, then you're bound to get the goals sooner or later and we proved that again in this game. We're really delighted with this win and we don't care what our rivals are doing. We're still only focusing on ourselves and then we'll see where our journey takes us at the end of the season."
Hannover 96
Christian Schulz: "The first half was catastrophic. We wanted to sit a bit deeper, but that doesn't mean that we should only start to attack them when they come within 20 yards of our goal. Whenever we did manage to win the ball further up field, we didn't push out and we couldn't keep hold of possession. We changed things around for the second half because we realised that it really wasn't working and then we were a little higher up the field and able to attack them earlier. The whole situation was terrible before and is terrible now, and we've got to make sure that it doesn't get any more terrible. These next nine games are going to be challenging and we can't go thinking that we are going to be home and dry in the next three games. It's likely to go the distance. Even the sides below us are picking up points here and there, but we're not, which is why the situation is a lot worse than it was two or three weeks ago."
Edgar Prib: "We're disappointed. The first half was a total blow out for us – we were too deep and passive. In the second half, we totally transformed our tactics and decided we wanted to chase the ball further up the field and get at them deeper. It was okay at times, but despite that, we've done too little again today and deserved to lose. We wanted to stand deeper, like against Bayern, and wait for our chances, but we were too passive and that ruined our game. It's not a nice situation to be in, but we've still got a four-point advantage [over the relegation zone]. We've got enough games left to pick up the points so let's not panic. We've got to keep our concentration, carry on working and sooner or later, success will come our way again."
Leon Andreasen: "The first half wasn't good. We wanted to defend aggressively like we had against Bayern, but we didn't manage it at all. We need games that we can build on and that we can take something positive out of, but that was not good today. We've got to put this game behind us and look forwards."
