David Jurásek: “We’re very disappointed. We were close to the victory, but a match lasts for 90 minutes. That’s football. It would have been nice to end Leverkusen’s run. The team showed a lot of character defensively; we need to draw strength from that. But 88 minutes is not enough and we were punished for that.”
Oliver Baumann: “This match must be the basis for the remaining seven games. Tactically good, the commitment was right, we all fought together. In the end, we were five or six minutes short of seeing the game through. That’s what I demand, that’s what must encourage us despite the disappointment at the end. You can win games with this attitude. But it’s very bitter today. The victory would have been lucky; however. it would have been possible. But in the end, we also have to finish off our counters better. A second goal would have been possible that way.”
Pellegrino Matarazzo: “It’s an unbelievable run by Leverkusen. It’s a great shame when you lead for so long and then lose. We played very well in the first half, in which we had a good balance between defending deep and several phases of ball possession. The first quarter of an hour in the second half was the crucial point. We then had several chances to relieve the pressure but we didn’t succeed in doing that. Afterwards, Bayer built up a pressure that was then difficult to defend against. But we can build on this performance. If you fight together as a team, you’ll pick up a lot of points.”
Xabi Alonso (Bayer 04 Leverkusen head coach): “It was very hard today. We had to battle intensively to come back. In the first half, we had problems finding space in the final third. But at half-time, we discussed the fact that it doesn’t matter when we score, the main thing is that we score. We showed a good mentality, the equaliser then proved key to believing in more. I’m very proud of the team.”