We caught up with some Germany internationals after matchday 32 in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund and Mats Hummels are within touching distance of the Europa League places, whilst Benedikt Höwedes was left looking for an explanation after their defeat in Köln. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Christoph Kramer were happy with their win over Bayer Leverkusen in the battle for automatic Champions League qualification. DFB.de got all the reaction from World Champions Durm, Hummels, Neuer, Müller, Höwedes, Draxler and Kramer.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Hertha BSC 2-0
Erik Durm: “I was completely dumbfounded and didn't have a clue where I should run to. Before I shot I could see that there was a bit of a gap at the far post. And the fact I hit the ball into precisely that part of the goal made it all the better. Then I instinctively ran over to 'Schmelle', but I couldn't quite believe it myself. In hindsight, of course it's a bit of a shame that I didn't run over to the fans. I would've liked to celebrate the goal with them. But I think you could see from watching me that scoring a goal is not an everyday occurrence for me.”
Mats Hummels: “We’re currently on the right track – and we want to keep it that way!”
Bayern München vs. FC Augsburg 0-1
Manuel Neuer: “We wanted a good result but the red card suited Augsburg perfectly. It’s obviously never going to be easy with ten men against Augsburg, who aren’t a bad team at all.”
Thomas Müller: “Obviously we hadn’t imagined that we would be down to ten men after fifteen minutes.”
1. FC Köln vs. Schalke 04 2-0
Benedikt Höwedes: “Week by week, it’s getting harder for me find excuses for poor displays like that. It’s not going to sound authentic anymore if we can’t start performing on the pitch. We were missing everything that makes a Schalke team stand out; we had no passion, no commitment, no emotion. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball at the front, nor did we have Köln under any sort of control. There was too much space. We weren’t working without the ball. I’m puzzled as to why the problems we’ve talked about aren’t being addressed on the pitch. Everyone has to ask themselves whether they really implemented everything we planned to. It saddens me that we played the way we did.”
Julian Draxler: “It was a truly awful performance. I don’t know what’s wrong with us. You will never win a Bundesliga game playing like that. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the worst games we’ve played in years. I’m glad that I didn’t have to watch that as a spectator. On a personal level, it wasn’t enough either. I’m trying my best after my injury, but I’m hitting my limits at the moment. We know that the fans are angry, and justifiably so. Nevertheless, we have to try and fight our way through this bad season together.”
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen 3-0
Christoph Kramer: “We’re obviously delighted with the result. We put in a good shift against a tricky team and deserved to win the match. We’ve not quite reached our target yet, as we still need a few more points to guarantee automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.”
Sources: bvb.de, fcbayern.de, schalke04.de, borussia.de
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We caught up with some Germany internationals after matchday 32 in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund and Mats Hummels are within touching distance of the Europa League places, whilst Benedikt Höwedes was left looking for an explanation after their defeat in Köln. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Christoph Kramer were happy with their win over Bayer Leverkusen in the battle for automatic Champions League qualification. DFB.de got all the reaction from World Champions Durm, Hummels, Neuer, Müller, Höwedes, Draxler and Kramer.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Hertha BSC 2-0
Erik Durm: “I was completely dumbfounded and didn't have a clue where I should run to. Before I shot I could see that there was a bit of a gap at the far post. And the fact I hit the ball into precisely that part of the goal made it all the better. Then I instinctively ran over to 'Schmelle', but I couldn't quite believe it myself. In hindsight, of course it's a bit of a shame that I didn't run over to the fans. I would've liked to celebrate the goal with them. But I think you could see from watching me that scoring a goal is not an everyday occurrence for me.”
Mats Hummels: “We’re currently on the right track – and we want to keep it that way!”
Bayern München vs. FC Augsburg 0-1
Manuel Neuer: “We wanted a good result but the red card suited Augsburg perfectly. It’s obviously never going to be easy with ten men against Augsburg, who aren’t a bad team at all.”
Thomas Müller: “Obviously we hadn’t imagined that we would be down to ten men after fifteen minutes.”
1. FC Köln vs. Schalke 04 2-0
Benedikt Höwedes: “Week by week, it’s getting harder for me find excuses for poor displays like that. It’s not going to sound authentic anymore if we can’t start performing on the pitch. We were missing everything that makes a Schalke team stand out; we had no passion, no commitment, no emotion. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball at the front, nor did we have Köln under any sort of control. There was too much space. We weren’t working without the ball. I’m puzzled as to why the problems we’ve talked about aren’t being addressed on the pitch. Everyone has to ask themselves whether they really implemented everything we planned to. It saddens me that we played the way we did.”
Julian Draxler: “It was a truly awful performance. I don’t know what’s wrong with us. You will never win a Bundesliga game playing like that. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the worst games we’ve played in years. I’m glad that I didn’t have to watch that as a spectator. On a personal level, it wasn’t enough either. I’m trying my best after my injury, but I’m hitting my limits at the moment. We know that the fans are angry, and justifiably so. Nevertheless, we have to try and fight our way through this bad season together.”
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen 3-0
Christoph Kramer: “We’re obviously delighted with the result. We put in a good shift against a tricky team and deserved to win the match. We’ve not quite reached our target yet, as we still need a few more points to guarantee automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.”
Sources: bvb.de, fcbayern.de, schalke04.de, borussia.de
