After the 1-1 draw in Leverkusen, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and players Julian Brandt, Gregor Kobel and Emre Can shared their view of the game. The match reactions.
Sebastian Kehl (in the mixed zone): “The contact is definitely there, twice in my eyes, and penalties have been given in the Bundesliga for significantly less than in this situation (with Karim Adeyemi). But we can live with the point. We tried to cause Leverkusen difficulties with moments of switch-play, but we had a few simple possession giveaways too many. We could’ve made it slightly easier for ourselves in transition. The spaces were there for counter situations.”
Julian Brandt (in the mixed zone): “If we look at the scoring chances, the corners and the share of the game, then we’re happy with the point. We were very compact in order to control the two Leverkusen No. 6s. That meant that when we won the ball, we didn’t get wide so quickly. But we also gave the ball away too easily at times. We did have the chance to make it 2-1 in the 95th minute, and you can also discuss the penalty. But all things considered, Leverkusen would’ve deserved the victory more than us. I’m happy that we battled for this point.”
Gregor Kobel (in the mixed zone): “A very hard-fought point. We had less of the game than the opposition. At the back, we defended very strongly apart from the conceded goal. We unfortunately didn’t find the spaces that they gave us going forward. A bit of breathing space would’ve been nice.”
Emre Can (to DAZN): “Leverkusen had more of the play but we led for a long time and wanted to see it over the line. But unfortunately we didn’t manage that. It was good work from us defensively, but more must happen offensively. We can play much better football in that regard. It hurts when you concede a goal so late. We’re involved in all three competitions. We want to give a different account of ourselves compared to last time when we go to Stuttgart in the cup.”