Marius Müller: Need to improve in defence

“We tried to defend everything that came our way,” the 30-year-old said afterwards about the final 20 minutes of the game. The Royal Blues had been reduced to 10 men for the final stages of the match, after Ibrahima Cissé had been sent off for a second yellow with the score level at 3-3. HSV were able to score twice in injury time to win 5-3. 

It was a deserved win for head coach Tim Walter’s side, as S04 head coach Thomas Reis commented during the post-match press conference. HSV had several chances on goal, with Müller kept busy all evening.

Afterwards, the goalkeeper was left with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he had put in a strong performance, but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat in front of a sold-out crowd. “I played for 90 minutes in front of nearly 60,000 fans – that’s something I’ve worked hard for a long time to be able to experience,” said Müller, who may have been hoping for a quieter night on his debut. Instead, HSV were able to consistently find their way into the final third, creating several good chances for themselves. 

Praise for Ouédraogo

“We need to improve in defence, otherwise we wouldn’t have conceded five goals. We have to work on this during the upcoming week,” said Müller, adding that the team have a lot of quality in attack as well. One player that shone on Friday night was Assan Ouédraogo, who made history twice against HSV. Not only did he become the youngest player to start a match for Schalke in the top two divisions in Germany, he also became the youngest player to score for the club in either division as well (17 years, 80 days). “He’s an exceptional talent. I’ve never experienced anything like it, in all the years that I’ve been playing,” Müller enthused. “He fully deserved to start the game and rewarded himself with a goal and a strong performance.” 

First home game of the season against Müller’s former club

The Royal Blues will now be looking to put in another solid performance and, this time, be rewarded with points when they host 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday (5/8, 20:30 CEST). It will mark a reunion for Müller, who played for Kaiserslautern in his youth. “Today, we were shown where we need to improve,” he said. “We need to pick ourselves up and go again next week.”