Schmelzer: I don’t feel we were ever really in danger – they only had one or two chances. Roman (Bürki) saved them well, and that’s important at those stages, especially with the euphoria in the stadium. After the first chance the crowd really got going. We stayed calm and then stepped up our game. It’s really important that we maintained our calmness in our game, created chances and then took them.
Question: Even though it’s only the second game, how nice is it to be in first place after the season you had last year?
Schmelzer: It’s a nice reward, but it’s important to remember that the work that we put in on the training ground is only worth it when we carry on like this. I believe that everyone knows that. And everyone has seen in the first half of the Europa League qualifier what can happen when we’re not on our game. So we have to make sure that we stay on it for the next weeks and months.
Question: What do you put your personal revival down to?
Schmelzer: I’ve already stressed several times that I’ve been injury free since winter. That’s very important for me. My body feels better and I can give my all even during midweek fixtures. I’m looking forward to that and I hope that it remains so.
Question: Do you still harbour hopes of being recalled to the national side for the September internationals?
Schmelzer: That’s in September – I still have two games for Borussia Dortmund before then. They are my main task, and I’m fully focused on that. We have to qualify for the Europa League group stage and then aim for three more points against Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga. Then it’s the international break, and until then BVB are the most important thing for me.
Borussia Dortmund went top of the Bundesliga table this weekend after a 4-0 win at Ingolstadt. In an interview with DFB.de, left back Marcel Schmelzer speaks about the strong start to the season and his personal revival.
Question: Mr Schmelzer, what do you have to say about your second consecutive 4-0 win?
Marcel Schmelzer: Our aim was to compete. We knew that it was going to be a difficult task. There is great joy in Ingolstadt, and rightly so. You have to compliment the team – we had to concentrate on our game from the first minute until the last. I believe that we only allowed them one or two chances and remained patient after the first half. So it was a deserved win.
Question: The season could hardly have started better, right?
Schmelzer: Yes, absolutely. (laughs)
Question: What did your manager Thomas Tuchel say at half time when it was still 0-0?
Schmelzer: We riled ourselves up at half time. We knew that we were playing well and Ingolstadt would defend well, but we would still get chances. We had numerous chances in the first half. But we also said that we had to score because it can then backfire. It’s important that we remained calm, because we then scored that important opening goal.
Question: How important was the timing of the first goal, especially since Ingolstadt were having a good spell after half time?
Schmelzer: I don’t feel we were ever really in danger – they only had one or two chances. Roman (Bürki) saved them well, and that’s important at those stages, especially with the euphoria in the stadium. After the first chance the crowd really got going. We stayed calm and then stepped up our game. It’s really important that we maintained our calmness in our game, created chances and then took them.
Question: Even though it’s only the second game, how nice is it to be in first place after the season you had last year?
Schmelzer: It’s a nice reward, but it’s important to remember that the work that we put in on the training ground is only worth it when we carry on like this. I believe that everyone knows that. And everyone has seen in the first half of the Europa League qualifier what can happen when we’re not on our game. So we have to make sure that we stay on it for the next weeks and months.
Question: What do you put your personal revival down to?
Schmelzer: I’ve already stressed several times that I’ve been injury free since winter. That’s very important for me. My body feels better and I can give my all even during midweek fixtures. I’m looking forward to that and I hope that it remains so.
Question: Do you still harbour hopes of being recalled to the national side for the September internationals?
Schmelzer: That’s in September – I still have two games for Borussia Dortmund before then. They are my main task, and I’m fully focused on that. We have to qualify for the Europa League group stage and then aim for three more points against Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga. Then it’s the international break, and until then BVB are the most important thing for me.
