It took almost an hour, but Mats Hummels celebrated his side taking the lead, and shortly after, the captain doubled it himself. In an interview, the World Cup winner spoke about Dortmund’s 4-1 victory, and looked ahead to their DFB Cup game away against Augsburg.
Question: Mr. Hummels, what felt better; your pass before taking the lead or your goal?
Mats Hummels: In the moment both were great. It’s nice to be involved in the goals or when you make them yourself. On balance, there are moments which are, in fact, better like when you lose the ball and then get it clear. I can compare that to the last few weeks, but I definitely preferred the game against Frankfurt.
Question: After the criticism you’ve received in the past few weeks do you think you needed to score a goal of your own?
Hummels: Absolutely. It was important that it was the goal that made it 3-1 and not just 5-1 or 6-1 and also because of everything that’s been written in recent weeks. The goal represented a huge relief.
Question: What was crucial for the win against Eintracht? Two things happened just before the break that could’ve affected you psychologically. Aubameyang missed a penalty but from that point onwards, Frankfurt were down to ten men.
Hummels: I think we were always one step ahead in the game. We had a lot of chances in the first half. Frankfurt only had one, but they took it. Until the 75th minute we were comfortably outside of our box. We can be very happy with the game as a whole despite conceding. Once we were 2-1 up and had a man extra it was clear that we would get the result.
Question: A win in the DFB Cup against Augsburg and then the last game before the winter break against Köln and you can be happy with the first half of the season?
Hummels: That’s to goal. Should we win both then it will have been a sensational first half of the season. Coming second in our Europa League group wasn’t ideal, but we got through and that’s what counts. If we win our last two games, then we will have not much to complain about going into the winter break. We need to do just that.
Question: The draw for the European Championship as made on Saturday. What was your reaction?
Hummels: Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Poland… it’s okay. I’ve not really thought about it that much to be honest. I don’t think it’s too arrogant to say that we should win the group, or come second at least. It’s a long way away.
Question: What’s not so far away is the DFB Cup game against Augsburg. What do you think of Weinzierl’s team?
Hummels: Augsburg are going well at the moment, especially after the problems they had at the start of the season. They have played very well in their last four or five games and I have to say I was thrilled for them about their Europa League success on Thursday. It’s a tough task ahead of us but we’ve had good results there over the last few years. We need to work hard but I think we can do it.
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It took almost an hour, but Mats Hummels celebrated his side taking the lead, and shortly after, the captain doubled it himself. In an interview, the World Cup winner spoke about Dortmund’s 4-1 victory, and looked ahead to their DFB Cup game away against Augsburg.
Question: Mr. Hummels, what felt better; your pass before taking the lead or your goal?
Mats Hummels: In the moment both were great. It’s nice to be involved in the goals or when you make them yourself. On balance, there are moments which are, in fact, better like when you lose the ball and then get it clear. I can compare that to the last few weeks, but I definitely preferred the game against Frankfurt.
Question: After the criticism you’ve received in the past few weeks do you think you needed to score a goal of your own?
Hummels: Absolutely. It was important that it was the goal that made it 3-1 and not just 5-1 or 6-1 and also because of everything that’s been written in recent weeks. The goal represented a huge relief.
Question: What was crucial for the win against Eintracht? Two things happened just before the break that could’ve affected you psychologically. Aubameyang missed a penalty but from that point onwards, Frankfurt were down to ten men.
Hummels: I think we were always one step ahead in the game. We had a lot of chances in the first half. Frankfurt only had one, but they took it. Until the 75th minute we were comfortably outside of our box. We can be very happy with the game as a whole despite conceding. Once we were 2-1 up and had a man extra it was clear that we would get the result.
Question: A win in the DFB Cup against Augsburg and then the last game before the winter break against Köln and you can be happy with the first half of the season?
Hummels: That’s to goal. Should we win both then it will have been a sensational first half of the season. Coming second in our Europa League group wasn’t ideal, but we got through and that’s what counts. If we win our last two games, then we will have not much to complain about going into the winter break. We need to do just that.
Question: The draw for the European Championship as made on Saturday. What was your reaction?
Hummels: Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Poland… it’s okay. I’ve not really thought about it that much to be honest. I don’t think it’s too arrogant to say that we should win the group, or come second at least. It’s a long way away.
Question: What’s not so far away is the DFB Cup game against Augsburg. What do you think of Weinzierl’s team?
Hummels: Augsburg are going well at the moment, especially after the problems they had at the start of the season. They have played very well in their last four or five games and I have to say I was thrilled for them about their Europa League success on Thursday. It’s a tough task ahead of us but we’ve had good results there over the last few years. We need to work hard but I think we can do it.
