Kramer: It was a foul first and then a handball.
DFB.de: So that should’ve been a clear penalty?
Kramer: Definitely, that’s how I saw it.
DFB.de: The goal line referee should’ve seen that though…
Kramer: And if I spend another half year being mad at that referee, it won’t change anything. We had a similar problem in the first leg and we just have to live with that.
DFB.de: So it was an unfortunate exit?
Kramer: If we had gone 1-0 ahead in the first leg, we would’ve won the game and not just by one goal. I think we were the clearly better team and yet we lost. Sevilla deserved to win the second leg in a way. If we had scored a third, this would have been a narrow affair. There’s no point in wondering “What if…?” If you lose after two legs over 180 minutes, then that will always be deserved in a way.
DFB.de: What did you learn from those two games?
Two impressive performances against title defenders Sevilla were not enough for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The five-time German Champions sealed their exit from the Europa League with a 3-2 loss in the second leg. DFB.de spoke to World Champion Christoph Kramer about the reasons behind the exit and the positives from the two games against the team from Andalucía.
DFB.de: Christoph Kramer, how disappointed are you about the losing the Europa League tie to Sevilla?
Christoph Kramer: Of course I’m disappointed. We had big plans. Based on the first leg, I imagined things to go differently. Our midfield didn’t know how to deal with them. It’s sad, but at least this means we’ll have no more midweek fixtures and a little more free time. There are positives in anything.
DFB.de: What was the decisive factor that they had against you in the end of the day?
Kramer: Our system was too focussed on attacking, considering that Sevilla were so deep down the pitch. They were also successful in their man-to-man marking against Granit Xhaka and me. We had to move up a pitch a bit to give the centre backs enough space. That gave them the opportunity to threat on counter-attacks of course. It’s difficult to find another solution to that kind of problem.
DFB.de: What are the positives?
Kramer: We managed to hold our own against an opponent standing deep in their own half, come back repeatedly and keep the game wide open. A goal was in the air at all times. We created a lot of chances and managed to change our style of play, played a lot of crosses and were good at preventing them from going on the second ball. We hit the woodwork twice and were denied a penalty appeal. If you fail to take your chances though, you’re eventually going to lose your grip on the game though.
DFB.de: How did you see the moment before the penalty appeal?
Kramer: It was a foul first and then a handball.
DFB.de: So that should’ve been a clear penalty?
Kramer: Definitely, that’s how I saw it.
DFB.de: The goal line referee should’ve seen that though…
Kramer: And if I spend another half year being mad at that referee, it won’t change anything. We had a similar problem in the first leg and we just have to live with that.
DFB.de: So it was an unfortunate exit?
Kramer: If we had gone 1-0 ahead in the first leg, we would’ve won the game and not just by one goal. I think we were the clearly better team and yet we lost. Sevilla deserved to win the second leg in a way. If we had scored a third, this would have been a narrow affair. There’s no point in wondering “What if…?” If you lose after two legs over 180 minutes, then that will always be deserved in a way.
DFB.de: What did you learn from those two games?
Kramer: The first leg was incredibly fun. We played really good football. Both teams didn’t live up to that standard in the second leg. They just blocked out midfield. Now we can focus on the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup. That’s not too bad.
DFB.de: You’re hosting Paderborn on Sunday. How difficult will it be to get back to league business?
Kramer: Not difficult at all. We just have to make sure we give our all again.
