Alexander Nübel: It was an open game after half time

David Wagner:

The first 15 minutes were quite quiet without any notable chances. We managed to defend well against their strong attackers. They gained control after going 1-0 up and had the better opportunities. Benito Raman had a big chance, but Leverkusen were overall better. The first half belonged to them.

After the break we improved a lot. We didn’t give them so much space and our back four was more solid. We were then able to control the game more ourselves. We had a good balance in the second half. Benito’s goal ruled out for offside was very tight. Leverkusen were at least better than us by one goal, so they deserved to win. Despite the loss, we showed once again that we are a tough team to face. We shouldn’t forget that we lost to a Champions League side today. We will take the positives from the game and also reflect on the things that we can be doing better.

Peter Bosz:

I’m very happy after the win in Munich that we could once again get all three points here. We played very good football in the first half. After the break we weren’t as dominant, but we showed that we can do it the hard way. I was a little upset that we conceded such a goal so soon after scoring, but it did keep the game exciting until the end.

Alexander Nübel:

We weren’t awake in the first half, didn’t get into the game and couldn’t find the space we had planned to. We didn’t have any solutions for the problems they caused us. We spoke about things at the break and improved in the second half. We definitely could have taken more from the game. It was an open game after the break and we didn’t give up after conceding the second goal. We couldn’t get our reward for our fight in the end. These kinds of games are part of our development. I think we are heading in the right direction. We know that we can beat any team.

Suat Serdar:

We didn’t really get into the game in the first half and had just the one chance through Benito. After the break we showed what we are capable of. If you’re asleep for 45 minutes, it will be difficult against a team like Leverkusen. Our opponents then had the same issues that we had in the first half in the second period. In the first half Leverkusen won all the important balls, and then in the second it was the opposite way around. We had our chances, but we were often missing the crucial final passes. We had a lot of counter-attacks though, and we should make better use of them.