90 minutes of pure adrenaline, controversy, intensity, passion and fight. Werder’s 2-1 victory away at 1. FC Union Berlin had it all, and will likely be a talking point for fans of both teams over the next few days. “I have never been as proud of my team as I am today”, said Florian Kohfeldt after the dramatic game.
Davy Klaassen: “It was very difficult, we had to defend a lot and work really hard. It was a very important victory because we want to keep up the good momentum after we lost the first two games. It was a crazy, emotional game. We have shown today that we can fight for the victory, even when things don't go our way."
Nuri Sahin: "I said in the dressing room today that there should be no complaining. We just wanted to focus on our game, and we did that. Everyone gave it their all so I'm incredibly proud of the team."
Theodor Gebre Selassie: “It was really difficult today. We had to give everything we had but we’re delighted with the result.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “There were a few players who had to play in a new position for the first time today, some made their Bundesliga debuts. I have the utmost respect for my team; they had such a strong mentality today even in the face of adversity. We weren’t undeserved winners at all and I believe we were the better team.”
Frank Baumann: “I would like to give the team a huge compliment. I am very proud. I can’t emphasise enough just how important this is. There were lots of obstacles for us to overcome today but we managed well. We limited them to relatively few chances and defended well on the whole. As a result, we were able to apply some pressure of our own.”
Davy Klaassen: “It’s a beautiful stadium, but lots of us have played in stadiums with a similar atmosphere before. It was a great game for the fans, it was exciting and it had everything, but we came here to win, not to entertain. And we managed to do that.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “It’s so loud, it’s all in such a small space and all the fans whistle, such as with the penalty. However, you can’t let yourself be affected by this, and the referee can’t either. Nevertheless, it was a great game.”
Leonardo Bittencourt: “It's always a great feeling when you win. Especially when the team worked as hard as we did today. Today was about how well we were going to deal with the atmosphere and the opponent. I'm extremely proud of the team."
Christian Groß: “We knew that it would be a tense game with a lot of emotion. We gave it everything and made sure we got the victory.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “It was a great experience to play here, dealing with the fans, the stadium and the atmosphere. It’s what football’s all about. I am looking forward to playing here again next season.”
Frank Baumann: “The referee didn’t have a great game. Both sides will say that some decisions were questionable. Either way, he certainly didn’t keep control of the game.”
Davy Klaassen: “I think it was a penalty. I felt the contact so I went down. I can’t tell if he moved his hand away because it’s not visible on the camera angle, but if he did, maybe he moved it away too late. I took both penalties because I’m our designated penalty taker, but the second one didn’t go in, even though it was headed for the corner. Luckily, Lücke made up for my mistake.”
Niclas Füllkrug: As a striker you always want to score, and I know it’s difficult to score two penalties in one match, so I offered to take it, but Davy was sure so he took it.”
Florian Kohfeldt. “Niclas knows that Davy is our penalty taker, but he’s hungry for more goals and I understand that. That’s why he wanted to take it.”
Davy Klaassen: “We’re not scared of Leipzig: we want the home win.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “We look forward to every game that comes our way. We hope to grab two or three more goals against Leipzig but it might be time for others to step up.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “Of course it’s gutting not to have Nuri available for the game against Leipzig.”
