Baumgartlinger: “The support from the fans is huge”

Post-match reaction to the 2-1 defeat against Frankfurt

After taking an early lead, FC Augsburg conceded twice and missed several chances in a 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. Read on for all the post-match reaction from both camps.

Rafał Gikiewicz: “It has to be said that we were up against a strong side today, one that is currently playing a solid season in the Champions League. We didn’t play poorly today, but just weren’t good enough to measure up to Eintracht today. It’s game after game this week, so we need to analyse this defeat as quickly as we can, because we really want to win our final two matches of the year. I was happy to make my comeback, and I hope that I will be able to continue helping the team.”

Ermedin Demirović: “It’s a tough defeat to take, because we played well once again, but we weren’t clinical enough. We would have probably deserved at least a point, but we need to start getting them where we can. We are on the right path, and were a bit unlucky today, because otherwise we definitely could have taken something from this game.”

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “We started well and scored early on, before having a few chances to double our lead. Then, we lost the ball too easily and Frankfurt scored on the counter-attack. That was tough to take, but then we did have another huge opportunity to score through Demirović just before the break. We need to make sure we take those chances. We didn’t give up after Frankfurt took a 2-1 lead, and could have made it 2-2. Despite all the positive words, we are standing here empty-handed, which is something we need to change soon.”

Julian Baumgartlinger: “It’s much easier if you take your chances in the Bundesliga. Frankfurt are a Champions League side and have the quality needed to turn a game around. We should have defended better on the corner they scored from, but we then also had a chance to at least score an equaliser after. We need to work on that. The fans really carried us once again today, and their support is huge. We can feel the impact they have.”

Enrico Maaßen, FC Augsburg head coach: “We are very disappointed, because we took the lead at the perfect time – it’s hard to get an earlier opener. We then conceded an unnecessary goal, where we should have done better at cutting off their runs into the box. It was a very evenly-matched game in the first half, even though it’s impossible to defend against everything Frankfurt throw at you. We delivered another passionate and intense performance and had a huge chance to retake the lead just before half time. Frankfurt were strong after the break and it was frustrating that we didn’t defend well enough on the corner they scored from. Regardless, we still had two good chances after that. We need to make sure we take these chances and defend better in those key moments.”

Oliver Glasner, Eintracht Frankfurt head coach: “I’m very happy and satisfied with today. We expected it to be a tough game – Augsburg had previously played extremely well against Bayern München and should have beaten Leipzig. We conceded on their first shot of the game, but my team showed a fantastic reaction once again. We didn’t lose confidence in ourselves, continued to attack and scored a nice equaliser. Kevin Trapp made a vital save before the break, which kept us from going behind once again. I was happy with how we played in the second half because we had more control over the game and made sure we remained in Augsburg’s half. After making it 2-1, we failed to make the most of two or three really good chances in order to put the game to bed. That made it thrilling right until the end.”