Interviewer: The fans all stood behind the team after the disappointment at the weekend. How much could you feel that solidarity on the pitch?
Höwedes: Massively. The fans have not exactly had an easy year here, there have been highs and lows. We have to take our hats off to them, they stand together behind us as one and never let us down, even when things are difficult. I can only express my huge thanks to them. When we pull through these periods together, then you end up with good matches like this one. We need to build on this passion and desire.
Interviewer: Did the tactical change at the back help you to deliver a better performance?
Höwedes: I wouldn’t just put it down to that but it worked well, everyone really embraced the job they had to do. The change at the back provided us with the means to have a greater presence going forward as it meant we were pretty much playing with two strikers. That was a good choice for this tie. Whether it will be the right one for the second leg, we will have to see.
Interviewer: What sort of position would you say Schalke are in heading into the away leg in Gladbach?
Höwedes: We will go there full of confidence. It completely comes down to how we do. Of course it would have been better if we had won the match but you could see that we are going to get opportunities if we are that physical and dominate with that sort of quality. That is how we can win this tie. Nothing is lost yet.
Interviewer: You face FC Augsburg on Sunday. What does your team have to do?
Höwedes: We need to build on our performance against Gladbach. We didn’t give in after going behind early on. We did also make mistakes but we ironed them out together and put in a shift. That gave all of us a good feeling on the pitch and I think that was also clear to see.
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Schalke captain Benedikt Höwedes, as did the rest of the team, put in an exemplary performance in his side’s 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first leg of the Europa League last 16. The Germany international, who has represented his country on 43 occasions, was solid at the back after the Royal Blues struggled early on and reduced the Gladbach attack to almost no opportunities following Jonas Hofmann’s strike. The hosts were on top after Guido Burgstaller’s equaliser in front of a 52,412 strong crowd. Höwedes himself had a fantastic opportunity to head the home side into the lead from a Johannes Geis corner but he was just unable to find the target.
The world champion speaks in an interview with DFB.de about the reaction to the recent 4-2 defeat to Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga. The 29-year-old made a particular point of paying tribute to the Schalke fans. The defender also shares his thoughts on the tactical change from a back three to a back four, the team’s position heading into the second leg on Thursday (21:05 CET) as well as Schalke’s poor form ahead of the Bundesliga match against FC Augsburg on Sunday (15:30 CET).
Interviewer: There was a lot of whistling coming from the away stand after the 4-2 defeat in Gladbach. Did the 1-1 draw in the Europa League make up for that?
Benedikt Höwedes: Certainly. We played well and showed a brilliant reaction, especially compared to the match last Sunday. The fans appreciated it and really acknowledged that.
Interviewer: What were your team’s strengths in this match?
Höwedes: We really put our tackles in and dominated the game. We were the better team. Gladbach unfortunately were clinical and punished us. They proved again that they are incredibly dangerous on the counterattack but we reacted well to that and deserved the equaliser. We put a lot of pressure on them in the second half and had several really good chances. We would have been deserving winners if we had got the victory.
Interviewer: It really was all Schalke at times in the second half, particularly when you hit the bar and the post. How frustrated are you that you couldn’t capitalise on that?
Höwedes: Of course it’s a shame that that we didn’t get our reward for such a good performance.
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Interviewer: The fans all stood behind the team after the disappointment at the weekend. How much could you feel that solidarity on the pitch?
Höwedes: Massively. The fans have not exactly had an easy year here, there have been highs and lows. We have to take our hats off to them, they stand together behind us as one and never let us down, even when things are difficult. I can only express my huge thanks to them. When we pull through these periods together, then you end up with good matches like this one. We need to build on this passion and desire.
Interviewer: Did the tactical change at the back help you to deliver a better performance?
Höwedes: I wouldn’t just put it down to that but it worked well, everyone really embraced the job they had to do. The change at the back provided us with the means to have a greater presence going forward as it meant we were pretty much playing with two strikers. That was a good choice for this tie. Whether it will be the right one for the second leg, we will have to see.
Interviewer: What sort of position would you say Schalke are in heading into the away leg in Gladbach?
Höwedes: We will go there full of confidence. It completely comes down to how we do. Of course it would have been better if we had won the match but you could see that we are going to get opportunities if we are that physical and dominate with that sort of quality. That is how we can win this tie. Nothing is lost yet.
Interviewer: You face FC Augsburg on Sunday. What does your team have to do?
Höwedes: We need to build on our performance against Gladbach. We didn’t give in after going behind early on. We did also make mistakes but we ironed them out together and put in a shift. That gave all of us a good feeling on the pitch and I think that was also clear to see.
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