Rexhbecaj: “It was a well-deserved victory”

Reaction to the 2-1 home win against Dortmund

Despite going 1-0 down, FC Augsburg rallied against Borussia Dortmund to emerge 2-1 victors. Alexis Claude-Maurice’s brace made him the matchwinner on matchday 8 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Here is the match reaction.

Keven Schlotterbeck: “It was an important win! We showed a good mentality and intensity, we didn’t allow our opposition many chances and really threw ourselves into the game. To come back like we did after going 1-0 down, in front of our own fans, is naturally a great feeling. Of course, it’s a little painful to see your brother lose, but first and foremost, I’m pleased with the victory. We were on it today and picked up three deserved points.”

Alexis Claude-Maurice: “It feels great to have won! We were expecting a tough game and were able to implement our game plan and see it through to the very end. We worked well and had a strong mentality on the day. I was really pleased with the team’s overall performance. The win gives us confidence, because we’ve shown that we can deal with difficult situations. For me personally, it’s great to have scored the two goals, but I don’t see myself as a talisman, I just want to help the team through my performance.”

Elvis Rexhbecaj: “It was a well-deserved victory today. We started really well, and then went behind, but we didn’t let it bring us down. We all knew we had what it took to turn it around, particularly in front of the home crowd, and we went and showed that on the pitch.”

Marius Wolf: “It’s of course especially good to have won against a former club, so compliments to the team for that. We played superbly, we didn’t let ourselves be affected by their opening goal, which was good considering we were playing Dortmund. We kept a clear head and continued to play our way. We didn’t want to let ourselves get pushed too far back and instead went actively into the tackle – and we did that well.”

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “First of all, I’d like to congratulate my team, I’m very pleased with the performance. We spoke a lot this week about mindset and responsibility, and I saw that on the pitch today – even when we went 1-0 down. We acted as a unit, didn’t allow them many chances and that made it very difficult for the opponents. Normally I don’t like to speak about individuals, but Alexis was outstanding today and I’m very happy with the victory. Now, it’s about recovering quickly, because we’ve got the cup tie against Schalke in three days, and we want to build on this performance and progress into the next round.”

Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund head coach): “We actually started really well, took the lead and worked the ball nicely in phases. We knew it would be difficult, that we needed to move our opponent around, but then we conceded two goals which are a nightmare to concede away from home. In such situations, it’s always difficult against an opposition who holds their own well when pressed. We kept trying to play it through them, and had a few chances, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.”