Julian Weigl is only 21 years old, but he holds the keys in Borussia Dortmund's midfield. Despite his team’s turbulent encounter with Hertha BSC on Friday evening, eventually culminating in a hard-fought 1-1 draw, the Germany international remained calm and collected both on and off the pitch. In the aftermath of the game, the midfielder discussed the structure in Dortmund's game, their injury worries and looks ahead to Tuesday's Champions League encounter at Sporting Lisbon.
Question: Mr. Weigl, when was the last time you played in such a turbulent match, either with Dortmund or with the national team?
Weigl: Phew, I definitely had to let this game sink in for a moment. There was so much in this match and it was such a tumultuous affair, especially in the second half. At the end of the day, we earned a point. We would rather have won of course, particularly for our fans, who produced another fantastic atmosphere even in these cold temperatures. We were the ones to score the equaliser, so perhaps we should be satisfied with the result.
Question: Why was Dortmund's game lacking its usual structure, especially in the first half?
Weigl: For one, this collective of players had never been fielded together in this setup before. We needed some time to get used to one another, find the right spacing and form a structured approach. During this phase, we were certainly confused in our running and our approach, since everyone wanted to have the ball or force things while not focussing entirely on the tasks they were assigned. We had a good talk about this during half time. Our coach found the right words and we played much better in the second half.
Question: Since you are the pacemaker in Dortmund's midfield, opposition teams have tended to mark you very closely in recent weeks. Do you have plans to work around this or avoid it, going forward?
Weigl: It was not as extreme against Hertha as it has been in previous games. Obviously they will not let me run around unmarked now, though maybe that was the case at the start of my first season, when I was not really known in the league. I try to make room for myself or intentionally maintain a distance to allow a team mate to occupy an open space. Hertha made it very difficult for us, because they defended from a deep lying position. They only started to attack us by the halfway line, but they showed a lot of aggression in challenges. We often tried to outrun them, but this led to many poor decisions on our part. We played too hastily at times.
Question: Considering that Dortmund are currently missing eleven players through injury, would you say that a point at home is satisfactory?
Julian Weigl is only 21 years old, but he holds the keys in Borussia Dortmund's midfield. Despite his team’s turbulent encounter with Hertha BSC on Friday evening, eventually culminating in a hard-fought 1-1 draw, the Germany international remained calm and collected both on and off the pitch. In the aftermath of the game, the midfielder discussed the structure in Dortmund's game, their injury worries and looks ahead to Tuesday's Champions League encounter at Sporting Lisbon.
Question: Mr. Weigl, when was the last time you played in such a turbulent match, either with Dortmund or with the national team?
Weigl: Phew, I definitely had to let this game sink in for a moment. There was so much in this match and it was such a tumultuous affair, especially in the second half. At the end of the day, we earned a point. We would rather have won of course, particularly for our fans, who produced another fantastic atmosphere even in these cold temperatures. We were the ones to score the equaliser, so perhaps we should be satisfied with the result.
Question: Why was Dortmund's game lacking its usual structure, especially in the first half?
Weigl: For one, this collective of players had never been fielded together in this setup before. We needed some time to get used to one another, find the right spacing and form a structured approach. During this phase, we were certainly confused in our running and our approach, since everyone wanted to have the ball or force things while not focussing entirely on the tasks they were assigned. We had a good talk about this during half time. Our coach found the right words and we played much better in the second half.
Question: Since you are the pacemaker in Dortmund's midfield, opposition teams have tended to mark you very closely in recent weeks. Do you have plans to work around this or avoid it, going forward?
Weigl: It was not as extreme against Hertha as it has been in previous games. Obviously they will not let me run around unmarked now, though maybe that was the case at the start of my first season, when I was not really known in the league. I try to make room for myself or intentionally maintain a distance to allow a team mate to occupy an open space. Hertha made it very difficult for us, because they defended from a deep lying position. They only started to attack us by the halfway line, but they showed a lot of aggression in challenges. We often tried to outrun them, but this led to many poor decisions on our part. We played too hastily at times.
Question: Considering that Dortmund are currently missing eleven players through injury, would you say that a point at home is satisfactory?
Weigl: Using our injury situation as an excuse is too simple for me. We had eleven players on the pitch today, we train together every day and know each other very well. Obviously we would have liked to have taken the lead and put the game on a different course, but instead we conceded the opener. But even then and with our many injuries, we kept playing attacking football.
Question: Does the number of injuries still worry you as you approach Tuesday's Champions League tie at Sporting Lisbon?
Weigl: Not at all. Naturally we would like to have all players on board, but there is no wishful thinking in football. We have to accept it as it is. Our coach will find the right solutions and field a competitive Dortmund side on Tuesday.
