Leno: "A clean sheet gives everyone confidence"

Following a collision with Hamburger SV’s Cleber, Bernd Leno was left with a rather painful-looking swollen lip. But this didn’t prevent the Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper from shining in the closing stages of the game. Thanks to a string of top saves from Leno, Leverkusken were able to win the game 1-0 and take all three points in this Bundesliga clash.

In an interview with DFB.de, the Germany international spoke about the collision, his outstanding performance and the second leg of Leverkusen’s last-16 tie with Villarreal this coming Thursday.

Question: Was the collision with Cleber painful?

Bernd Leno: Yes, it stung quite a bit. But I didn’t come off as badly as Christoph Kramer on Thursday. (The World Cup winner took a ball to the face and suffered concussion).

Question: How big a relief is it to finally take three points from a game again?

Leno: Massive. We were more or less playing with our backs to the wall. So we had to win today. Obviously not everything was perfect, but no one cares about that now. All that matters is that we got the three points and haven’t let the teams ahead of us widen the gap.

Question: What does the win mean for the team going into the second leg against Villarreal?

Leno: Obviously it gives us momentum, but Villarreal will certainly ask even more questions of us. Above all else we have to be even better defensively on Thursday. We simply cannot afford to concede a goal, otherwise it will be near impossible to go through. We’re certainly not writing off the Europa League yet, though. We want to turn the tie around. (Villarreal won the first leg in Spain 2-0)

Question: How much did the win today take out of everyone? We got the impression it really started to hurt towards the end.

Leno: I think it was clear for all to see how knackered we were at the end. It was quite messy game for us at the end. The important thing was that the team showed the right mentality to keep fighting until the very end. In the end we got a little bit of luck as well - but we haven’t had much of that so far this season. So this win has done us a lot of good today.

Question: In the closing stages you made a fantastic save to deny Artjoms Rudnevs. What does an incident like that do for you?

Leno: For a goalkeeper the best thing is always to just do and not think; that’s what I did there. It all happened so quickly. The ball is flicked on and then he shoots. I needed a bit of luck, and thankfully I was able to make the save.

Question: You came across slightly dazed after the collision. Did the referee ask you when the game was stopped?

Leno: No, the physios and doctors did that. After 30 seconds I was fully conscious again. My vision was still ever so slightly obscured, but the bleeding slowed down quickly.

Question: How important was it after twelve goals against in four games to keep a clean sheet again?

Leno: That’s obviously not just a positive for me, but for the whole team. We’ve conceded a lot of goals recently. Keeping a clean sheet after that gives everyone in the team confidence.

Question: It wasn’t as though the team defended the lead fantastically well. What do you make of the win?

Leno: I obviously hope it marks the end of a bad run. In the Bundesliga on Sunday we have to confirm this against VfB Stuttgart. There is still room for improvement, not everything was perfect today. There is a lot of work to do, but maybe all the team needed was a successful result. I hope this was a turning point.