DFB.de: Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a hat-trick, how much confidence will that give him going into the new season?
Hummels: I’ve always been a huge fan of him, as a footballer and as a person. I’m surprised that his first season is perceived as going so badly. I actually thought he did very well. Last season we all had problems. We are all very hopeful that he will show what he can do on a more regular basis this season. He’s a player who brings a lot to the team. He has everything you need to do well at a very high level.
DFB.de: Your manager has said that the early start to the season could be a positive thing for the team. Do you agree with that?
Hummels: Yes, I enjoy it. I prefer to play in matches that have significance. When you know you can’t make any mistakes, when the atmosphere is there and feeling that everything counts. I also don’t enjoy playing 45 minutes in friendlies. Against Wolfsberg we showed that we are already a step further ahead than last week.
DFB.de: Did the record crowd of 65,190 fans once again show there’s a strong appetite for the Europa League?
Hummels: Yes. To think that the stadium was almost sold out for a qualifier and to have such an incredible atmosphere is something very special.
World Champion dominated in defence against Wolfsberger AC, without needing to really work too hard. Unthreatened, the Germany international and Borussia Dortmund navigated their way comfortably into the Europa League play-off round with a 5-0 win. Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a Henrikh Mkhitaryan hat-trick wrapped up a resounding victory.
Borussia and Mats Hummels are back in action on Sunday (14:30 CEST), as they look to progress in to the next round of the DFB Cup, at the expense of opponents Chemnitzer FC. In an interview with DFB.de, the captain of last season’s runners up warns his side of complacency against the third-division side, as well as giving an insight into the Wolfsberg match and kind words about a certain teammate.
DFB.de: Mats Hummels, following progression into the Europa League play-off round, BVB now have another knockout game coming up on Sunday in the DFB Cup. What sort of match are you expecting against Chemnitzer FC?
Mats Hummels: I expect a similar game to that against Wolfsberg, against an opponent who sits deep and gives absolutely everything. They’ve been playing in the 3. Liga for a few years now. I think it will be a game that we need to dominate with possession, to give the opponent as little hope as possible of getting something out the game. We need to be clinical and concentrate d from the start. If we do that, we’ll avoid any slip ups.
DFB.de: So just as BVB did against Wolfsberg. How would you sum up the convincing 5-0 home victory?
Hummels: Very positively. In order to reach the group phase, via the play-off round, we knew we had to win. We knew that it could fall apart at our own doing.
DFB.de: In what way?
Hummels: We gave the ball away too much early on. It took a bit of time until we found ourselves. But in the end, I don’t think Wolfsberg even had a shot on goal. We could have scored in the first half and been awarded a penalty. In the second half we played fantastically. Wolfsberg didn’t see much of the ball in our half after that.
DFB.de: Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a hat-trick, how much confidence will that give him going into the new season?
Hummels: I’ve always been a huge fan of him, as a footballer and as a person. I’m surprised that his first season is perceived as going so badly. I actually thought he did very well. Last season we all had problems. We are all very hopeful that he will show what he can do on a more regular basis this season. He’s a player who brings a lot to the team. He has everything you need to do well at a very high level.
DFB.de: Your manager has said that the early start to the season could be a positive thing for the team. Do you agree with that?
Hummels: Yes, I enjoy it. I prefer to play in matches that have significance. When you know you can’t make any mistakes, when the atmosphere is there and feeling that everything counts. I also don’t enjoy playing 45 minutes in friendlies. Against Wolfsberg we showed that we are already a step further ahead than last week.
DFB.de: Did the record crowd of 65,190 fans once again show there’s a strong appetite for the Europa League?
Hummels: Yes. To think that the stadium was almost sold out for a qualifier and to have such an incredible atmosphere is something very special.
