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Adrian Gantenbein: My clearance felt like a goal
With a 2-1 win and three points in the bag, the Royal Blues returned home from Bielefeld on Sunday (5/10). After the final whistle, head coach Miron Muslic and Arminia boss Mitch Kniat shared their thoughts on the match, while Adrian Gantenbein and Nikola Katic also gave their reactions.
Miron Muslic:
First of all, I hope Joel Grodowski is doing well. After the collision, Nikola Katic reacted very well and recognised the situation immediately. I have to compliment my team, but also give credit to Arminia. In the first 20 to 30 minutes, we implemented a lot of things well, knowing exactly what kind of challenge we’d face against them. That’s why I have to praise Bielefeld too – they never gave up and still managed to create chances against our high defensive line. The 2-0 lead at half-time was a deceptive scoreline, and after the break, the one thing we wanted to avoid happened straight away with their goal. We knew it was going to get really tough after that, but the lads gave everything and cleared every ball. It was a fortunate win today, but I can live with that – things always even out over time. In terms of mentality and resilience, though, this is something that will benefit us in the long run.
Mitch Kniat:
Congratulations to Schalke on the win. We made things too easy for them in the first 20 to 25 minutes, as you could see from the goals we conceded. After that we adjusted and made changes, and in the second half I can’t fault my team at all. We gave everything and put a lot into the game – if we’d managed to score a second goal, it could have turned out very differently. In the end, it was the mistakes we made early on that decided it. There’s still plenty for us to improve, but we can also take positives from today’s performance. Schalke pushed us to our limits, and ultimately the first half was enough for them to secure the win – they earned it and fully deserved it.
Adrian Gantenbein:
Watching my clearance back is pretty enjoyable – it almost felt like scoring a goal myself. Overall, it was an incredibly intense game. Bielefeld threw everything at us after the break, and we were running on empty towards the end because they kept piling on the pressure. It was a fortunate win, but sometimes you make your own luck. There are so many tight games in this league, and it’s always that bit harder away from home, so we’re happy to take the points and pick up more confidence for future challenges.
Nikola Katic:
The incident with Joel Grodowski happened behind me, but I’d experienced something similar against Hertha. When I saw him go down, I immediately turned him onto his side – it was just an instinctive reaction, because even though we all want to win, health always comes first. There are things more important than football. As for the game, I think we’re on the right track, even if everything wasn’t perfect today. But the way we won shows the character and mentality within this team. The stadium was absolutely rocking after their goal, but we responded well and defended everything that came our way – in the end, it’s not the missed chances that matter, just the three points.
