Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels was able to live with the 2-1 loss to Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League. Despite the defeat, the Germany international still believes their chances of reaching the quarter-finals are still good. The 26-year-old World Champion spoke to us about the game, Juventus’ tactics and their position going into the second leg on 18th March.
DFB.de: Mats Hummels, how disappointed are you with the 2-1 defeat against Juventus?
Mats Hummels: Quite a lot if you consider the first half. It was annoying to be 2-1 down at half time because we didn’t deserve to be behind. We put in a good performance, had a lot of good passages and only two or three bad ones, which could have resulted in us conceding. We were a bit lucky not to go 3-1 behind in the second half. However, I feel that it’s a decent result. I think that we have a good chance of being able to qualify. It’ll be a very interesting second leg.
DFB.de: How tough was it to establish a balance between attacking and defending against a strong Juventus side?
Hummels: It was easier in the first half because Juve were more attacking. In the second half they relied more on their counter. Therefore, there was a lot less room to make the most of, just as Ilkay, Auba, Miki and Marco (Gündogan, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Reus) had done in the first half. It was no longer there in the second half so we had to be more careful.
DFB.de: Were all three goals gifts?
Hummels: Our goal was a gift but it was also one that can happen due to our high pressing game. You can’t score such goals when you sit back. Both of the goals we conceded were identical. Juventus play down the wings, they got a ball into the middle too easily and the first time it was two against two and then three against two. We were a bit unlucky as the rebound fell straight to Tevez for the first goal. We were thinking at half time: there’s no explanation for Juventus’ two goals.
DFB.de: Were you surprised that Juventus gave you a lot of room and possession?
Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels was able to live with the 2-1 loss to Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League. Despite the defeat, the Germany international still believes their chances of reaching the quarter-finals are still good. The 26-year-old World Champion spoke to us about the game, Juventus’ tactics and their position going into the second leg on 18th March.
DFB.de: Mats Hummels, how disappointed are you with the 2-1 defeat against Juventus?
Mats Hummels: Quite a lot if you consider the first half. It was annoying to be 2-1 down at half time because we didn’t deserve to be behind. We put in a good performance, had a lot of good passages and only two or three bad ones, which could have resulted in us conceding. We were a bit lucky not to go 3-1 behind in the second half. However, I feel that it’s a decent result. I think that we have a good chance of being able to qualify. It’ll be a very interesting second leg.
DFB.de: How tough was it to establish a balance between attacking and defending against a strong Juventus side?
Hummels: It was easier in the first half because Juve were more attacking. In the second half they relied more on their counter. Therefore, there was a lot less room to make the most of, just as Ilkay, Auba, Miki and Marco (Gündogan, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Reus) had done in the first half. It was no longer there in the second half so we had to be more careful.
DFB.de: Were all three goals gifts?
Hummels: Our goal was a gift but it was also one that can happen due to our high pressing game. You can’t score such goals when you sit back. Both of the goals we conceded were identical. Juventus play down the wings, they got a ball into the middle too easily and the first time it was two against two and then three against two. We were a bit unlucky as the rebound fell straight to Tevez for the first goal. We were thinking at half time: there’s no explanation for Juventus’ two goals.
DFB.de: Were you surprised that Juventus gave you a lot of room and possession?
Hummels: Yes definitely. It took us a few minutes to get into the game but after that we turned the ball over a lot, had a lot of good chances and rattled Juve a little bit. Therefore, it’s even more annoying that we lost 2-1. You could tell that the team and the whole stadium were a bit nervous because they knew it was a tough game against us. It was annoying after they went 2-1 up because you could see that Juventus got some of their security back and focused more on counter attacking.
DFB.de: Should BVB have pushed harder for a second goal when you were playing well?
Hummels: I think that we actually did that. We found ourselves in good positions and had two or three dangerous chances but unfortunately we couldn’t finish them- which were similar situations to the ones we found ourselves in when we conceded. I believe that our determination was there and we did well theoretically. Only the second goal ruined the overall impression of the first half.
DFB.de: Are you concerned that you’ve conceded six goals in the last three games?
Hummels: No. The question is always: Are the opposition effective or have they had a lot of chances and scored goals? I believe that when you look at the game against Stuttgart, who scored two goals from two corners against us, you can see that our defensive structure was there on the whole. It’s no surprise that there are still some shaky moments if you’ve had a season like the one we’re having. We don’t give the opposition too many chances but those chances are mostly clear cut. We want to get better at that.
DFB.de: Will the team leave Juventus with the feeling: “We could have got more out of it?”
Hummels: Yes I think so. We saw and showed that we could have got more out of the game. I’m not overly upset because I’m quite sure that we have a good chance to qualify from the second leg.
DFB.de: How do you see yourselves doing that?
Hummels: With our football that we have been playing for a few weeks now. Today was okay. Nothing more and nothing less. But I think that we can and we will go the extra mile in the derby against Schalke on Saturday. If we find our form then I think we’ll progress.
DFB.de: Juventus showed that they’re vulnerable…
Hummels: I’m convinced that they will be a bit more defensive in the second leg and play for the classic 0-0. We’ll have to watch out for that. But that will become relevant in three weeks. Now we have a few tough games ahead of us.
