Stevens: 'Now we have one very important game ahead'
Cologne – There are a few more grey hairs and wrinkles starting to appear as life on the touchline reaches new levels of stress and tension.
The Bundesliga coaches have another 90 turbulent, trialling and testing minutes to survive before a summer holiday which will be more relaxing for some than it will be for others. bundesliga.com listens in to what they had to say at the end of the penultimate round of action in the 2014/15 Bundesliga season.
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Hamburger SVHuub Stevens, Stuttgart: "I’ve really got to give my team a massive compliment for keeping a clear head after the unexpected setback, then getting the equaliser and taking the lead shortly after that. The only thing I can accuse the team of is not making use of the further chances we had. Now we have one very important game ahead of us."
Bruno Labbadia, Hamburg: "Of course we're hugely disappointed to have let this game slip out of our hands. We made it 1-0 and had Stuttgart right where we wanted them. Then we didn't work like we should have done for 20-25 minutes and we conceded two. It then proved hard for us to make the right decisions and break through."
SC Freiburg 2-1 FC Bayern MünchenChristian Streich, Freiburg: "We decided to play defensively because we couldn't see any other way. We had luck on our side and were able to win. There's just one game left now and maybe we even have a chance of staying in the Bundesliga."
Pep Guardiola, Bayern: "Freiburg wanted it more than we did and they fought harder for this win. It's not been easy for us since wrapping up the title. We've got one game left now and then we can think of our holidays and the future."
VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 Borussia DortmundDieter Hecking, Wolfsburg: "The early goal lifted us, but the equaliser was certainly frustrating. It became an open battle at 1-1 with both teams playing at a high rhythm. We were a bit luckier today and certainly could not have argued if the second goal had not been given due to offside."
Jürgen Klopp, Dortmund: "If we'd won this game, then I would have felt 800 percent better than I do right now. We played well for 88 minutes, only we weren't at the races for two minutes and that's cost us, despite our efforts. We've had plenty of practice at this all season."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-0 TSG 1899 HoffenheimRoger Schmidt, Leverkusen: "We're pleased to have been able to win our last home game. That was also important given the circumstances as we wanted to give Simon Rolfes and Stefan Reinartz a worthy send-off. It was a difficult game for us. The free-kick from Hakan Calhanoglu did us all good and in the end we deserved the points."
Markus Gisdol, Hoffenheim: "We played a really decent game and gave it our all. We should have gone in front in the first half and we weren't bad in the second either. Now we want to finish eighth, which would be a rewarding finish."
FC Augsburg 1-2 Hannover 96Markus Weinzierl, Augsburg: "We've conceded two goals on the break and they've hurt us a lot. I think you could see how much we struggled against very well organised opponents and you could see that the pressure was getting to us. There should have been a penalty in the second half and I'm really unhappy that's not been given, but small things like that can prove decisive."
Michael Frontzeck, Hannover: "I'm sure I don't need to say how much of a relief this is for me. Since I arrived here, my team have always played well, but not got their reward. Today I can be happy with the performance. It's not easy to keep Augsburg in check entirely and we forced our luck. It was an important step, but not the decisive one - that comes next week."
Werder Bremen 0-2 Borussia MönchengladbachViktor Skripnik, Bremen: "The best team won. We've struggled quite often to play our best football when we're up against the top clubs, but we've still got to be pleased with the second half of the season we've had and that we're not down there where everybody's looking."
Lucien Favre, Gladbach: "There was a lot of pressure and we knew that Leverkusen had a good chance of winning their game. Finishing third is a triumph for the whole team. We deserve it. We've worked very hard and made excellent progress."
FC Schalke 04 1-0 SC Paderborn 07Roberto Di Matteo, Schalke: "The pressure on us in the past few days was big and that created some difficulties for us. Everybody could see that. In the end, these three points were important. We've reached our objective. We were very tense, particularly in the first half. Maybe we forced our luck with the late goal which we've been lacking in many other games."
Andre Breitenreiter, Paderborn: "The lads did everything we had planned to perfection. We didn't give our hosts any room to breathe and then we were courageous and lively, just we failed to take our chances. We should have finished them off in the first half."
Hertha Berlin 0-0 Eintracht FrankfurtPal Dardai, Hertha: "I'm actually quite pleased with my team. We had enough chances to win, but now we've still got some work to do. It's not going to be easy next week."
Thomas Schaaf, Frankfurt: "It was a very unfortunate game for us today. We lost the ball a lot. It got better in the second half, but we still lacked that ball to our forwards. We've lost our last away games so getting a draw and not conceding means there are at least some positives if you want to look on the bright side."
1. FSV Mainz 05 2-0 1. FC KölnMartin Schmidt, Mainz: "I said after our last two games how much our opponents had shown more determination, but this time our determination was greater. Köln were better in the first half, but then our goal gave us belief."
Peter Stöger, Köln: "I'm a little bit disappointed. We had the opportunity to get a positive result, but we didn't take it. It wasn't a bad game from us."
