“We knew what we were up against”

After Mainz 05’s 1-1 draw away against 1. FC Köln, the players and sporting director Martin Schmidt gave their thoughts on the game. After a dominant opening phase with was crowned by Ludovic Ajorque’s goal, the home side came back into the game little by little and equalised shortly after half time. With chances unable to be converted at both ends, the two sides each took home a point on matchday 28.

Sporting director Martin Schmidt: “We started really well and dominated the first 20 or 25 minutes. We occupied the opposition half and found the mark with our passes and scored the opening goal. After taking the lead, we didn’t manage the game well and Köln came into the game more and more. The momentum of the game swung a little and they were the better side in the final quarter of an hour of the first half. The second half was difficult and Köln were the more dangerous side. They scored a really nice goal. It’s a good point and with a bit of bad luck we could be going away empty handed, so we’ll take the point.”

Leandro Barreiro: “It was an intense game with a lot of duels. It was end-to-end so we’re very tired after the game. My initial feeling is of disappointment that we didn’t bring the level of performance that we’ve demonstrated before and what we expect of ourselves. Despite that, you have to value that we’ve taken a point here.”

Ludovic Ajorque: “We knew that we were up against here in this stadium with these fans. They created a lot of pressure. We went ahead quite early on but weren’t able to defend our lead over the long term. I think the result is a fair one in the end. It’s the ninth game without defeat now. We’re in good form and I’m pleased to have scored again.”

Silvan Widmer: “Every point is good, even though we’d have liked all three. Based on our performance, we didn’t deserve the win. Köln were slightly the better side after our goal and we were a little bit slow and sluggish. We weren’t aggressive in our duels and we didn’t have many opportunities to counter attack; we didn’t win many balls. We’ve been a lot better at doing that in other games. We have to be active and prepared to attack the opponent and the ball and take on every duel over the whole 90 minutes, regardless of the scoreline.”

We have to be active and prepared to attack the opponent and the ball and take on every duel over the whole 90 minutes.

Stefan Bell: “We were the better team to begin with. We had possession and played forwards quickly and ambitiously. We went ahead with our first good attack and then the momentum shifted a little bit. We started to have problems with pressing, also due to Köln doing well. Therefore, the first half didn’t feel really good despite having the lead. The second half was, in my opinion, more even, and then Köln scored a nice goal early on. After that, more of the play took place in the Köln half and we were more active and were better in possession. That allowed us to get into good crossing opportunities. In the final 30 minutes there were two good chances at both ends, so the result is in line with our performance and the point is a good one for us.”