Höwedes: "No one is going to tell me that a point in Munich is disappointing"

One point won or two lost? That was the question facing Schalke players after their 1-1 draw against 10 man FC Bayern München. Roberto Di Matteo’s side held a numerical advantage for 73 minutes, missed a penalty and fought back to equalise. Captain Benedikt Höwedes headed the equaliser home and spoke to DFB.de after the match.

Question: Mr Höwedes, what do you think about the draw in Munich?

Benedikt Höwedes: A draw in Munich is always pleasing. Obviously, we had a numerical advantage for most of the game and could have perhaps been braver at times. Overall, we’re happy with the result. It’s a shame that we missed the penalty. If we’d gone 1-0 up, it may have been a more comfortable evening for us. We equalised, having made an error from a corner to go behind. I believe that we can be happy with the result.

Question: Did you wonder why Roberto Di Matteo didn’t slightly change his tactics once Bayern were reduced to ten men?

Höwedes: Not at all. It was important to make sure that we didn’t concede. Bayern may have had ten men, but we can’t forget that they remain a great side. They have a lot of quality players and are dangerous. Consequently, I was happy with his decision. It’s also worth remembering that we had some dangerous attacks anyway, however, we didn’t make the most of them.

Question: Youth team goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther came on at the break to make his Bundesliga debut. As Captain, what did you say to him?

Höwedes: I gave him some encouragement and told him not to be nervous and to simply play his own game, which we certainly did. I think as a defensive unit we made it easier for him; Bayern only had a couple of chances. He made some good saves when called upon and had an impressive debut.

Question: You’re fourth in the table and playing in the Champions League. Shouldn’t you be beating Bayern in such situations?

Höwedes: I think that we could have been a bit braver at times, but we had to be careful too. No one is going to tell me that a point in Munich is disappointing. I’m delighted with it. Not many teams pick up points against Bayern. Obviously, they lost to Wolfsburg on Friday but before then there record was impeccable.

Question: What did you think of Pep Guardiola running to the corner flag to remonstrate with the officials after Robert Lewandowski’s disallowed goal?

Höwedes: Football is an emotional game. It wasn’t too dramatic; it shows that he loves football. I don’t know whether he needed to go to the corner flag to prove his point, but as I said, it’s not that dramatic.

Question: Roberto Di Matteo probably wouldn’t do that…

Höwedes: Everyone has a different way of dealing with things. Everyone deals with their emotions differently. Some guys are more open about it, whereas some are more introvert. But that doesn’t mean that one way is better than the other.

Question: What did you make of the situation?

Höwedes: I didn’t originally realise that the referee had blown his whistle. I initially thought that it had been ruled out for offside, but the body language of the officials told me that it was for another reason.

Question: On Friday you face Borussia Mönchengladbach. Seven points from the first three games would be nice…

Höwedes: We are hoping to get three points. We’re playing at home against a fellow contender for the Champions League places and we need to show that we deserve to be where we are. We’re moving in the right direction and a win against Gladbach would strengthen our position.

Taken from DFB.de.