As Kohfeldt was making his way down towards the tunnel after 90 impressive minutes of football, he had to pause a moment as a young Werder fan with an ear-to-ear grin and beaming eyes caught his attention. “He’ll be back for sure,” said Florian after a short exchange with the youngster. This reflects how many felt after an enthralling game on the Weser as Werder held Dortmund to a draw to keep their unbeaten run at home under Kohfeldt intact.
WERDER.DE collected the thoughts and opinions of the players and coach after the game.
Florian Kohfeldt: “That was a super game from both sides today; it was very entertaining with high intensity from the first minute to the last. It must have been dazzling for the spectators. BVB and Werder Bremen both put in a great performance today. In some phases we had a bit of luck but we had our chances too. In the end it was a well-deserved point. We always had the wind at our backs but on a run like we’re on, that's normal. Last week a few things didn’t quite work out and today it was different again. We can however cross of the mentality debate because that was starting to annoy me.”
Jerome Gondorf: “It was a Bundesliga match right out of the top draw and very entertaining for the spectators. On the one hand, they saw how we wanted to absolutely wanted to keep our unbeaten run going but on the other just how much offensive quality Dortmund has to offer. Against a team like that, it’s impossible to prevent them from getting chances so it’s better to have someone like Pavlas behind you to stop them when they come.”
Sebastian Langkamp: “It was important for us to show that we can deliver a top performance against a top team. That is pretty much what we did today. We did everything to resist their attacking strength and we played powerful football.”
Ludwig Augustinsson: “I can say without a doubt that it was an entertaining and top-quality game for the fans. Particularly at the end, Dortmund had a couple of great chances, so we had our share of luck. Now, we are just a bit tired.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “That was a great match of football. It was backwards and forwards the whole time and both sides got their chances. I would have loved to have been a spectator today. The fact it stayed at 1-1 with so many shots on goal is almost a joke. It could’ve been 4-4 by the end. Same as against Leipzig, with luck on our side we could’ve got the win but with that bit of bad luck we could have lost it.”
Jerome Gondorf: “The coach congratulated us about us securing our safety. The feeling was nice but not extraordinary. If you would have said to us a few months ago that before the third-from-last game that we would’ve secured our safety, we obviously would’ve taken it. Today we saw though that it hasn't caused us to drop our intensity, as is so often the case.”
Sebastian Langkamp: “We’ve seen in the last weeks and months that we can play well under extreme pressure. I think that that has been overlooked slightly and you have to give the team a lot of credit for that. After last week, we were told that the pressure was off but today we showed that our intensity remains the same.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “After training yesterday we found out we were safe. We're pleased that we managed to get it done early. It will be a bit easier to play without having that pressure on you. We got into this situation because of our performance in the first half of the season and so we can't be too disappointed in the second half. Next year we will of course want to start off better and want to play the first ten or eleven games like our last ten or eleven.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “Because of the way in which we have secured it, we should consider our staying up as a success. Nevertheless, long-term, our goal cannot just be to stay in the Bundesliga. I mentioned it yesterday in my final speech and would again like to thank the team whole-heartedly for their passion, commitment and the trust they have placed in myself and the rest of the coaching team. Given our starting point, it wasn’t a given that we were going to ensure safety three games before the end. The plan then was to finish it off against Mainz. However, I also said that there is no space for anyone who is satisfied with simply avoiding relegation. Next year I don’t want to have to be speaking about the relegation battle.”
Ludwig Augustinsson: “We want to win both of them – for the fans and for us. We want to finish the season with a positive feeling and give ourselves momentum going into the summer break and next season.”
Jerome Gondorf: “The coach has engrained a new mentality, which is his trademark and works well with all of us. We now want to show ourselves that we can win these remaining games.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “The focus switches to the last two games. We want to remain unbeaten at home until the end of the season and we also want to win our last game in Mainz. We will only be focusing on ourselves and not about what it might mean to our opponent.”
Ludwig Augustinsson: “He is in the form of his life and today he was simply a wall. Unbelievable what he managed to stop today. I’m really pleased for him.”
Jerome Gondorf: “He has been given the nickname ‘octopus’ because sometimes it’s like he’s got more than two arms. He is like a wall. I’m really pleased to have him in our team. It really helps to have such a strong player like him between the sticks because even when you make a mistake you know Pavlas is behind you.”
Sebastian Langkamp: “He is an absolute top keeper. He has proved that over many months. Across the week he is fully focused on matchday and is always on it. He really puts the work in.”
Maximilian Eggestein: “Today, it wasn’t just one or two but more like five or six saves that were right out of the top draw. Huge congratulations on his performance today.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “Today that was simply world-class. I said after the Leipzig game that he won’t always save those one-on-one situations but he works hard on them. His work with Christian Vander and the entire group of keepers is what makes all the difference. Pavlas is always willing to learn and make himself better. I am convinced that he’s not yet done developing as a keeper."
