Oliver Baumann: “After quickly conceding goals in the first and second half, it is difficult to come back against Leverkusen. We gave it a go, were particularly brave in the final half-hour and tried to turn it around. That gives us courage, that must give us self-belief, as difficult as it is right now. You need self-confidence in order to win matches. The desire is there, we tried and pinned Leverkusen back at times. Then you can see what we’re capable of. In addition, it was recognisable how Pellegrino Matarazzo wants to play. We need to embrace the situation, always keep going and do everything in our power to turn the situation around. That won’t happen without hard work. We also need not only the South Stand in this situation, we need the Main Stand, the opposite side. When the spectators help you, carry you, that brings out another five percent. This is also an appeal – not to the South Stand, they try everything, but to all the others too. We don’t need only spectators, we need supporters, loud fans. The team needs that; we somehow need to squeeze out each percentage point together.”
Thomas Delaney: “We did not make a good start in both halves. It cannot happen that we quickly concede a goal both times. You won’t win many games like that. It becomes hugely difficult after a start like that. We’re not where Hoffenheim have been in the recent past; we’re right down the bottom and now need to show mentality. The team can play football but we need to show it on the pitch as soon as possible. We’re lacking self-confidence and we’ll only get that by winning. It’s now a matter of improving things quickly. We cannot perform how we did in the first 60 minutes. We also owe the fans that. They supported us superbly.”
Christoph Baumgartner: “We’re struggling with the simple things at the moment. The quality is there, but we have to show it on the pitch. Every last person should also be aware that the only thing that matters now is staying in the division. Wins are the only way to do that. We’re synonymous with courageous football, and that has to be on show again soon. Luck is not on our side at the moment, but Leverkusen were simply the better team. We need to be ready on Friday. We’re under pressure, there are no more excuses.”
Pellegrino Matarazzo: “We didn’t get off to a good start, our performance was very subdued. Of course, the early goal we conceded didn’t help. Many things were not up to our standards, both offensively and defensively. Only once it was 3-0 did it become a footballing performance we can build on. After that, we created a few chances to score.”
Xabi Alonso (Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach): “We’re very satisfied with the result. After two defeats, we needed a good performance and we produced one. We controlled everything until the 75th minute. We created many chances, especially with our switch-play. That’s the right approach, we have to build on that.”
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