David Wagner: We’re sticking together despite the tough situation

David Wagner:

I’m definitely happy with the way the lads fought today. We showed that we are sticking together despite the tough situation. It was an intense game and it was clear who the favourite was. One side opted to fight hard, defend well, close gaps and play on the break – the other wanted to play football and have a lot of possession.

Can Bozdogan did really well on his Bundesliga debut. He wasn’t nervous and got really involved in the game. He showed how much he enjoys playing football. Overall, I was pleased with everyone’s performance.

Peter Bosz:

I’m a bit disappointed. We didn’t create enough chances and we didn’t play well, especially when we had the ball. You have to play the ball about when you play a team like Schalke who look to get stuck in. We didn’t do that today. I’m a coach who always wants to win, which is why we made attacking changes and continued to play for the three points even after we equalised. Who knows, this point might prove to be really important for us in a couple of weeks.

Daniel Caligiuri:

In our situation, it’s important that we put points on the board. The whole team was ready to fight from the off. We hardly let Leverkusen play their usual game. We were all there for each other and fought hard. I didn’t quite catch what caused the penalty. But if VAR intervened, then I’m sure it was handball.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to the ball ahead of the equaliser. I hardly trained during the week, so I was lacking a bit of power. I’m just really happy that I could play. But I had to get to that ball somehow – then it’s not 1-1.