On matchday 22 of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund tightened their grip on second place. Not only were BVB able to increase the point gap between them and third place to 15 points with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, but they also managed to make it four consecutive Bundesliga games without conceding.
No wonder, therefore, that World Cup winner Mats Hummels is pleased with the three points and his team’s performance on the whole. In an interview with DFB.de, the BVB captain spoke about the reasons behind Dortmund’s strong defensive display, BVB’s new quality and the interruption to the game in Leverkusen.
Question: Mats Hummels, the 1-0 win away to Bayer Leverkusen was the fourth league clean sheet on the trot for Borussia Dortmund. What is the reason for this?
Mats Hummels: We’re working well as a team on the whole. We defend passionately, stay very concentrated and don’t give away many opportunities. Then in Leverkusen, luck was on our side in the 92nd minute when they missed the big chance to equalise.
Question: Would it be fair to say that you “fought to the death”, as the saying goes?
Hummels: Since Roger Schmidt took charge of Leverkusen, the games there have been very rough. They try to cause a bit of chaos both on and off the ball and take a few chances. It’s difficult to get away from that kind of play, because they do it well. So you have to fight your way into the game. Then when you find the spaces and you haven’t let the chaos of the game get to you, you have to make the most of them. We didn’t do that enough. But on the whole our attitude was good. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to take home all three points.
Question: BVB are now 15 points ahead of their competition in third. What does that tell us?
Hummels: It tells us we’d better not throw away second place now. It goes without saying that with the players we have, our lead on the competition, our form and our quality, we should at least be getting second place.
On matchday 22 of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund tightened their grip on second place. Not only were BVB able to increase the point gap between them and third place to 15 points with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, but they also managed to make it four consecutive Bundesliga games without conceding.
No wonder, therefore, that World Cup winner Mats Hummels is pleased with the three points and his team’s performance on the whole. In an interview with DFB.de, the BVB captain spoke about the reasons behind Dortmund’s strong defensive display, BVB’s new quality and the interruption to the game in Leverkusen.
Question: Mats Hummels, the 1-0 win away to Bayer Leverkusen was the fourth league clean sheet on the trot for Borussia Dortmund. What is the reason for this?
Mats Hummels: We’re working well as a team on the whole. We defend passionately, stay very concentrated and don’t give away many opportunities. Then in Leverkusen, luck was on our side in the 92nd minute when they missed the big chance to equalise.
Question: Would it be fair to say that you “fought to the death”, as the saying goes?
Hummels: Since Roger Schmidt took charge of Leverkusen, the games there have been very rough. They try to cause a bit of chaos both on and off the ball and take a few chances. It’s difficult to get away from that kind of play, because they do it well. So you have to fight your way into the game. Then when you find the spaces and you haven’t let the chaos of the game get to you, you have to make the most of them. We didn’t do that enough. But on the whole our attitude was good. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to take home all three points.
Question: BVB are now 15 points ahead of their competition in third. What does that tell us?
Hummels: It tells us we’d better not throw away second place now. It goes without saying that with the players we have, our lead on the competition, our form and our quality, we should at least be getting second place.
Question: What do you have to say for goal-machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored the winner today?
Hummels: (laughs) He passed it into an open net, didn’t he? He put the difficult shot five metres wide of the goal.
Question: Is that a new trait BVB have acquired - winning games without playing that well?
Hummels: Exactly. You just have to take a 1-0 win in those games. Or a 2-0 win if you manage to score one on the counter late on. I think this is a very important trait for a team to have. There probably won’t have been many teams this season who’ve gone to Leverkusen, had a relaxed game, showed their quality and took home the points without any problems. That’s just not possible in Leverkusen. Sometimes you just have to adapt to the circumstances.
Question: What was your view of the lengthy interruption to the game?
Hummels: I found the whole situation a bit odd to start with, because even with the replays I thought the referee Zwayer had made the right decision. It has to be said that emotions were running quite high both on the pitch and on the touchline. So it could be that everyone made a bit too much of everything in the heat of the moment. The referee handled the situation properly.
Question: Felix Zwayer also spoke to you as BVB captain. What reasons did he give for making the decision?
Hummels:
He said there’s no way a manager should be trying to tell the referee what to do. It’s completely understandable that the ref should have a certain degree of authority. It’s already difficult enough to have to come up against more than ten players every time you make a decision, let alone a manager. So I can fully understand his decision. And you just have to accept it.
