Gündogan: To be honest, not much. We were kept telling each other to hold our nerve, to stay composed and patiently wait for our chances to come. I think that the coach already had a gut feeling at that point; he told us that we would score three goals – although we scored one more, which is fine as well. Our goals were well worked and we had more chances too. That’s something we’ve been lacking in recent weeks. We’ve had far too few games where we’ve managed to rally back, but it was different against Mainz.
DFB.de: In what’s unchartered territory for Dortmund, did you perhaps have to first learn what it takes to battle against relegation?
Gündogan: Firstly, we had to learn that we could get find our game again by doing the easy things well. The success of the past few years, the players that we have in our squad and the expectations have of course raised our own standards, and we’ve not always been able to meet them when battling relegation. That led to us getting dragged down quicker when things didn’t work out the way we wanted them to. However, with the situation we are currently in, we should instead try to focus on areas that will lift our spirits. We are slowly starting to improve that, indicated by the seven goals that we have scored in the past two games.
DFB.de: For the first time since September, you've managed to win back-to-back Bundesliga games. The fans sung "BVB are back" during the Mainz game. Would you agree with that?
Gündogan: It’s clear that we’re on the way up looking at the past two games at least, perhaps even since the start of the second half of the season. We can definitely live with seven points from the first four games since the restart. However, we know that our tasks will not become any easier and that there are still many challenges to face before we can truly say we’ve escaped. Our primary goal is still to distance ourselves from the relegation zone as quickly as possible.
DFB.de: Do you really feel as if you’re in a relegation battle? Or is it nonsense to think like that when we’re only at matchday 21?
Gündogan: That's what makes it so difficult. Every outsider that I've spoken to says, “Of course you’ll get out of the relegation zone". At some point, we all started to believe that ourselves, but didn’t do enough to truly achieve it. We now understand more what it means to be at the bottom of the table and I'm relieved that we’re able to breathe easier for now.
Despite signing a new contract in the week and putting in a stellar performance in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-2 win over 1. FSV Mainz 05, Marco Reus didn’t speak to the media following Friday night’s game. Fellow Germany international Ilkay Gündogan did sit down with DFB.de though to discuss how tricky the relegation battle can be.
DFB.de: Mr. Gündogan, did you have goosebumps before, during or after the game against Mainz?
Ilkay Gündogan: To be honest, I have no idea. But the atmosphere was definitely breathtaking. We are certainly spoiled when it comes to that.
DFB.de: The atmosphere wasn’t great ten days ago though. For the first time in years, BVB supporters vented their frustration with a shrill barrage of whistling following the 1-0 home defeat to FC Augsburg. Everything looked to be going downhill but then you record a win in Freiburg and then Marco Reus extends his contract – that gave people hope again.
Gündogan: The victory in Freiburg definitely helped to improve the atmosphere. But of course, Marco Reus' contract extension released a lot of energy. I was sick during the week so I wasn’t able to train with the rest of the team, or be there when he was greeted on Tuesday, but I heard that it was a great training session. We managed to take the momentum from our victory in Freiburg into the game against Mainz.
DFB.de: And in spite of going 1-0 down inside a minute, and not for the first time this season...
Gündogan: That's right. Once again we conceded a very, very early goal and that never helps to improve the situation. However, we had good spells on the ball in the first half and the way we started the second half was great. We scored two quick goals – that really got us going, even though we allowed them to pull it back to 2-2. At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that it was a deserved victory.
DFB.de: What happened in the changing room at half time after a stuttering opening 45 minutes?
Gündogan: To be honest, not much. We were kept telling each other to hold our nerve, to stay composed and patiently wait for our chances to come. I think that the coach already had a gut feeling at that point; he told us that we would score three goals – although we scored one more, which is fine as well. Our goals were well worked and we had more chances too. That’s something we’ve been lacking in recent weeks. We’ve had far too few games where we’ve managed to rally back, but it was different against Mainz.
DFB.de: In what’s unchartered territory for Dortmund, did you perhaps have to first learn what it takes to battle against relegation?
Gündogan: Firstly, we had to learn that we could get find our game again by doing the easy things well. The success of the past few years, the players that we have in our squad and the expectations have of course raised our own standards, and we’ve not always been able to meet them when battling relegation. That led to us getting dragged down quicker when things didn’t work out the way we wanted them to. However, with the situation we are currently in, we should instead try to focus on areas that will lift our spirits. We are slowly starting to improve that, indicated by the seven goals that we have scored in the past two games.
DFB.de: For the first time since September, you've managed to win back-to-back Bundesliga games. The fans sung "BVB are back" during the Mainz game. Would you agree with that?
Gündogan: It’s clear that we’re on the way up looking at the past two games at least, perhaps even since the start of the second half of the season. We can definitely live with seven points from the first four games since the restart. However, we know that our tasks will not become any easier and that there are still many challenges to face before we can truly say we’ve escaped. Our primary goal is still to distance ourselves from the relegation zone as quickly as possible.
DFB.de: Do you really feel as if you’re in a relegation battle? Or is it nonsense to think like that when we’re only at matchday 21?
Gündogan: That's what makes it so difficult. Every outsider that I've spoken to says, “Of course you’ll get out of the relegation zone". At some point, we all started to believe that ourselves, but didn’t do enough to truly achieve it. We now understand more what it means to be at the bottom of the table and I'm relieved that we’re able to breathe easier for now.
