Interviews: “Can be proud!”

Thomas Reis (Head Coach VfL Bochum 1848): Congratulations to Urs Fischer and his team. Union Berlin have enjoyed a great season. It was exciting to see how they developed and have now achieved outstanding things with the international business. We had personnel problems, but we’re not complaining. We had to change the basic shape. You could see at the beginning that it was a bit unfamiliar for the team. But if you look at the goals we conceded, we made too simple mistakes. In the second half, the team responded very well, we made the game more open. Our equaliser was deserved. Of course, it was bitter that we conceded their winner so late on. All in all, though, it was a very, very good performance from us, as it has been all season. We ended the season with our heads held high, losing to a great opponent.

Urs Fischer (head coach, 1. FC Union Berlin): Congratulations to Thomas Reis and his team. VfL actually had nothing to do with relegation this season, that speaks for the work of the club. The lead goal didn’t necessarily do us any good, there was some uncertainty to be felt. We addressed that in the break, and the second half was better. We invited the opponent in when we conceded the two goals. We tried to win the game until the end. The fact that we finished fifth in the end… I can’t think of a word for it.

Sebastian Polter: We’ve stayed in the league, that’s the be-all and end-all. To be back in the Bundesliga after more than a decade and to keep our place in it is something very, very special, we have to appreciate that. You’ve seen that even big clubs have had problems. We can be very, very proud of ourselves. If I stay healthy, I can improve my performance every day and push myself to the limit. I am very proud of my teammates, football is a team sport. We’ve celebrated enough in the last two weeks, now we’re going on holiday.

Simon Zoller: It’s great for me that I scored my first goal after my comeback today, I had it in the back of my mind that I really wanted to do that. But I would have liked to take home a point. That would have been deserved based on our second half. We’ve been on this path together for two and a half to three years. We have a very close-knit squad. It’s just fun to be on the pitch with the guys. It was a great way to end the season, both for me personally and for the team.

Anthony Losilla: I think it’s positive that we can still be disappointed despite a good season. You can lose against Union Berlin. The disappointment is big at the end because we conceded so late on. We showed a good side of us against a team that will play in Europe. With us, some dropped out, we came here with 16 men. We can be proud that we still found the energy to play a solid game. What we experienced in the last two weeks was fantastic, terrific. That’s why I don’t begrudge the Unioners for enjoying their party today.