Jensen: “That’s the reason we play football!”

Reaction to the 5-2 win in Heidenheim

New head coach Jess Thorup celebrated a perfect start with a 5-2 win in Heidenheim. The players celebrated passionately with the fans after the game. Here is all the immediate reaction to the game.

Elvis Rexhbecaj: “Honestly, we started the game well, but then conceded two disappointing goals. We knew that we could come back, we have already shown that again and again in the past. A set-piece situation then helped us get back in the game and after that we were very clinical in front of goal. Hats off to the team that we put in a performance like that here in Heidenheim, stayed calm and got our just rewards.”

Phillip Tietz: “It’s obviously a relief to get a first away win in over a year, especially after such a long time. Being able to help the team with my first Bundesliga goal makes me even happier, I will definitely watch the goal back a few more times! All in all, today was a really important first step which we have to build on and keep looking forward positively. A big thank you as well to the fans, they push us on today and played a big role in the win.”

Fredrik Jensen: “After going 2-0 behind early on, we stuck together as a team, were able to turn the game around and go into the half time break in the lead. That was very important. We wanted to score more goals in the second half, which we also managed to do. At the end of the day, we are pleased about the three points and the away win. Celebrating with the fans at the end was great, that’s the reason why we play football. Even if the win is nice now, there is hard work ahead of us from tomorrow because we want to keep going right on this path.”

Niklas Dorsch: “The win feels unbelievably good. Respect to the team, especially when you look at the way the game went. We were 2-0 down away from home, Heidenheim play with high intensity, so it’s extremely difficult to come back in a game in Heidenheim. But, we always believed in ourselves, and everyone did what was needed on the day to take something away from here. A truly successful day!”

Mads Pedersen: “Not winning away from home for a year is a bad run, we wanted to end it. Even at 2-0, there was a good energy in the team and we threw everything at it in both attack and defence, so we deserved to win the game. There is great belief in the team, which was shown by the fact that we continued to play forward after taking the lead.”

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “Away win – I couldn’t have asked for anything more in my first game! What the team showed on the pitch was really impressive. When it went to 2-0 I asked myself: ‘What is happening here?’ The goals came almost out of nothing, but straight after pulling it back to 2-1, I felt that the whole team believed that we could win the game. At the break I said to the team that we can’t allow ourselves to just defend the 3-2 lead, but we have to keep playing to get a fourth and fifth goal. We managed to do that, and the win gives us belief and self-confidence, that’s the most important thing in football.”

Frank Schmidt (1. FC Heidenheim head coach): “The result is a painful one. We took the lead from a corner and through an incisive, well-worked goal immediately added to that. After the goal to make it 2-1, keeping our heads played a role and we were 3-2 down even before half time. We wanted to do better than this in the second half and also had our chances. The set-piece to make it 4-2 took the belief and the bravery on the ball away from us, Augsburg were very clinical today. Conceding five goals is too many, but we have to keep our heads up and work through this together.”