Domenico Tedesco: The game changed after their second goal

It was a disappointing in the Weser-Stadion for the Royal Blues. Both head coaches reflected on the match in the post-match press conference, both agreeing on many points. Schalke players Guido Burgstaller and Alexander Nübel also gave their thoughts on the 4-2 defeat. schalke04.de has summarised the reactions.

Domenico Tedesco:

We started well, played aggressively and won the ball back as we’d planned to. We got forwards with pace and then deservedly went ahead. They then equalised with their first or second chance. It was difficult in the second half to get a result after going behind. It was brutal tonight. It’s a shame we couldn’t get our rewards for a good first-half display. After their penalty the game changed. They had more room to counter us. We managed to push forwards again eventually. I’m really pleased that Breel scored twice tonight. Obviously at the end we had to be more open, as we wanted to force an equaliser – as a result they scored a fourth in added time.

Florian Kohfeldt:

I can agree with Domenico Tedesco on a number of things. We had Jiri Pavlenka to thank early on, as we could have gone behind on several occasions in the first half an hour. Schalke did very well and played with real passion and fight. They got the ball forward quickly and we didn’t deal with that well enough. We managed to equalise with our first real chance and then got into the game more, making more chances thereafter. If Schalke had it made it 2-0 in the first half, it would have become very difficult for us. Tonight was a very tough game.

Guido Burgstaller:

Everything we do is for the club and now we need to recover from this difficult situation as soon as possible. It isn’t becoming any easier so we will have to respond to this. Tonight’s performance should give us some confidence. We have played poorly in some matches recently but we improved a bit tonight. We can build on tonight’s performance. We played courageously tonight just like we have on several occasions this season. It was tough for our opponents to grind out a victory and we need to maintain this intensity in our future matches.

Alexander Nübel:

We began the game well and got the early lead. Breel Embolo and Guido Burgstaller provided real threats up front and Weston McKennie did well too. Unfortunately, we quickly conceded the equaliser, which dampened our spirits somewhat. We started positively after the break and had real belief that we would in the game. After the penalty, we found it difficult as we had to push more men forwards – which was rewarded with our second goal. I had hoped that we would get an equaliser. When you are down at the bottom of the table, you have a lot of things on your mind. We reacted well though and played for second balls, which worked. The final result is so frustrating.

Domenico Tedesco: The game changed after their second goal