The tension among the players was still detectable after the final whistle of VfL Wolfsburg's 2-1 home victory against Borussia Dortmund. The reason is obvious: In two weeks time they face each other again in the DFB Cup final in Berlin. Dortmund's left back Marcel Schmelzer also looked ahead to the game with Wolfsburg on 30th May at Berlin's Olympic Stadium with great anticipation.
The Germany international captained his side on matchday 33 after World Champion Mats Hummels suffered an injury during the warm-up and was unable to start. After the game, he spoke to DFB.de about Dortmund yet again conceding an early goal, the battle to secure a Europa League qualifying spot and his insight into the DFB Cup final after the league encounter with Wolfsburg.
DFB.de: Mr. Schmelzer, you were brought off in the 76th minute in the 2-1 loss against Wolfsburg. What was the reason for your substitution?
Marcel Schmelzer: I've had some problems with my ankle recently. It was just a precautionary measure.
DFB.de: Daniel Caligiuri's 1-0 opener after 42 seconds was the fourth goal that Dortmund have conceded in the opening minute this season. What is your explanation for this?
Schmelzer: It's very irritating. Conceding an early goal like that makes it so much harder for us to get back into the game, especially against a strong team like Wolfsburg. We still managed to find our rhythm after ten minutes and managed to play quite well for the remainder of the first half. We have to avoid conceding these early goals though. We have often said that maybe it's not a bad thing that all bad things are happening to us in the space of one season. But our aim is to play much better in the remaining two games.
DFB.de: The second half didn’t start off much better for you either as Naldo put Wolfsburg back into the lead in the 49th minute from a set piece. Would you say that the goal was also a bit of a fluke?
Schmelzer: To a certain extent, but that's also sums up our season. We weren’t able to clear the ball after the corner and the ball took a touch off two of our players – it's unfortunate, but you simply can't defend against those types of situation. We should have defended better before the corner to have prevented it from ever happening perhaps. We put ourselves under pressure in that situation. We have to use this game in order to prepare for the DFB Cup final.
DFB.de: Before that you still have a final game to play against Werder Bremen at home, who will come to Dortmund also on 43 points. Is it an advantage for you to be at home?
Schmelzer: Yes I think you can say that. In the end, it really is a final: The team that wins will play in the Europa League next season. With a bit of luck we might even be able to finish sixth. Saturday will provide us with the answers.
DFB.de: Will you approach the last league game with Werder as if it was a real final?
Schmelzer: Well, in some ways it is the first of our two finals. Like I said: If we win the game with Bremen, then we have qualified for the Europa League. If we then also win the DFB Cup, that would be a truly awesome achievement as we would then directly qualify for the Europa League group stages.
DFB.de: It's not really possible to compare two separate games with one another, but do you think you were able to gain an impression of Wolfsburg ahead of the cup final on May 30th?
Schmelzer: We had some good chances in the first half. By the way, from my point of view a red card should have been given prior to the penalty as Kevin (Kampl) would have slotted home into an empty net if he hadn’t been fouled. The incident involving Miki (Henrikh Mkhitaryan) also justified a penalty. We started to play well in the first half after about five to ten minutes. That's a positive thing to take with us. In the second half we stopped playing as well. We made it too easy for Wolfsburg as they demonstrated their strength with quick counter attacks following us losing possession.
DFB.de:Marco Reus was brought on in Wolfsburg in the 70th minute after having recovered from his muscular problems. Is he the player that can inject Dortmund with that extra bit of energy in the last two games?
Schmelzer: Of course. We are all happy to have Marco back with us in the end of season run-in. The 20 minutes against Wolfsburg were good for him. There are still two weeks to go for him to continue to improve his rhythm and he will definitely be able to help us in our two finals.
created by mmc/fr
The tension among the players was still detectable after the final whistle of VfL Wolfsburg's 2-1 home victory against Borussia Dortmund. The reason is obvious: In two weeks time they face each other again in the DFB Cup final in Berlin. Dortmund's left back Marcel Schmelzer also looked ahead to the game with Wolfsburg on 30th May at Berlin's Olympic Stadium with great anticipation.
The Germany international captained his side on matchday 33 after World Champion Mats Hummels suffered an injury during the warm-up and was unable to start. After the game, he spoke to DFB.de about Dortmund yet again conceding an early goal, the battle to secure a Europa League qualifying spot and his insight into the DFB Cup final after the league encounter with Wolfsburg.
DFB.de: Mr. Schmelzer, you were brought off in the 76th minute in the 2-1 loss against Wolfsburg. What was the reason for your substitution?
Marcel Schmelzer: I've had some problems with my ankle recently. It was just a precautionary measure.
DFB.de: Daniel Caligiuri's 1-0 opener after 42 seconds was the fourth goal that Dortmund have conceded in the opening minute this season. What is your explanation for this?
Schmelzer: It's very irritating. Conceding an early goal like that makes it so much harder for us to get back into the game, especially against a strong team like Wolfsburg. We still managed to find our rhythm after ten minutes and managed to play quite well for the remainder of the first half. We have to avoid conceding these early goals though. We have often said that maybe it's not a bad thing that all bad things are happening to us in the space of one season. But our aim is to play much better in the remaining two games.
DFB.de: The second half didn’t start off much better for you either as Naldo put Wolfsburg back into the lead in the 49th minute from a set piece. Would you say that the goal was also a bit of a fluke?
Schmelzer: To a certain extent, but that's also sums up our season. We weren’t able to clear the ball after the corner and the ball took a touch off two of our players – it's unfortunate, but you simply can't defend against those types of situation. We should have defended better before the corner to have prevented it from ever happening perhaps. We put ourselves under pressure in that situation. We have to use this game in order to prepare for the DFB Cup final.
DFB.de: Before that you still have a final game to play against Werder Bremen at home, who will come to Dortmund also on 43 points. Is it an advantage for you to be at home?
Schmelzer: Yes I think you can say that. In the end, it really is a final: The team that wins will play in the Europa League next season. With a bit of luck we might even be able to finish sixth. Saturday will provide us with the answers.
DFB.de: Will you approach the last league game with Werder as if it was a real final?
Schmelzer: Well, in some ways it is the first of our two finals. Like I said: If we win the game with Bremen, then we have qualified for the Europa League. If we then also win the DFB Cup, that would be a truly awesome achievement as we would then directly qualify for the Europa League group stages.
DFB.de: It's not really possible to compare two separate games with one another, but do you think you were able to gain an impression of Wolfsburg ahead of the cup final on May 30th?
Schmelzer: We had some good chances in the first half. By the way, from my point of view a red card should have been given prior to the penalty as Kevin (Kampl) would have slotted home into an empty net if he hadn’t been fouled. The incident involving Miki (Henrikh Mkhitaryan) also justified a penalty. We started to play well in the first half after about five to ten minutes. That's a positive thing to take with us. In the second half we stopped playing as well. We made it too easy for Wolfsburg as they demonstrated their strength with quick counter attacks following us losing possession.
DFB.de:Marco Reus was brought on in Wolfsburg in the 70th minute after having recovered from his muscular problems. Is he the player that can inject Dortmund with that extra bit of energy in the last two games?
Schmelzer: Of course. We are all happy to have Marco back with us in the end of season run-in. The 20 minutes against Wolfsburg were good for him. There are still two weeks to go for him to continue to improve his rhythm and he will definitely be able to help us in our two finals.
