“We lacked courage before the break”

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1 June 2023, 18:15 yayınlandı

Mainz had already lost the opportunity to get through to the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal within 45 minutes of their game against Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening. Despite a visible improvement in performance in the second half, the visitors ended up with a deserved 4-0 win at full time in the MEWA ARENA. It was hard for the Mainz players and staff to explain the exact moment that the tide turned in Bayern’s favour once the final whistle had blown. “Too sluggish and not convincing enough” was the verdict of sporting director Martin Schmidt.

Reaction to #M05FCB

Martin Schmidt: “The first half was disappointing. If we had played like we did in the second half from the beginning, then we could have made it a bit more exciting. Against the Bayern of the first 45 minutes the way we played today was not enough, it was an deserved lead, we weren’t in the game and didn’t show the side of Mainz 05 that we wanted to. I put it down to the fact that we didn’t play how we normally try to. It was too sluggish and not convincing enough. The good thing is that our next challenge is coming up soon against Union on Saturday.”

Andreas Hanche-Olsen: “It was hard, another level. However, I think that we had to be more aggressive and give them less space. It was better after the break, we fought hard and showed another side of ourselves. If you give Bayern space, you are punished for that immediately, which we saw. We wanted to press higher, but there is a fine line against an opponent like this. The coach told us at the break that we were letting ourselves down, which we reacted to, but it was too late.”

Dominik Kohr: “We lacked courage before the break, we were not at the races in any department. We were motivated, just like the fans, and wanted to lay down a marker and cause Bayern Munich problems. That also wouldn’t have been deserved with a performance like in the first half, they were just more competitive. In the second half we had nothing to lose. Bo also told us that we had to play differently, also looking forward to the weekend. All in all, though, it was not enough to reach the next round. We have to react to this and show a reaction at the weekend because we are at our best when we are active.”