Lacking precision in the decisive moments

“When it came to the final pass, we either weren’t consistent enough or there was an opponent in the way,” said Daniel Caligiuri, outlining the Royal Blue’s biggest problem in the game. Sebastian Rudy had a similar outlook, “We had a good game up until the final third, where we lacked tempo and precision.” The midfielder said the team also created some promising chances on the counter but didn’t make the most of them. “Other than that, we could have scored two or three goals,” said Rudy. Omar Mascarell summarised, “If you don’t score, you can’t win.”

More consistent in the final phase

At full time, it was clear who had more chances. The Royal Blues registered almost twice as many shots as the visitors (15-7) but simply didn’t have luck on their side. In the 52nd minute, Suat Serdar found himself with a great chance after some fine interplay with Breel Embolo, but his effort hit the post. “We had a number of good chances to score, but we need to be more consistent in the final phase,” said the U21 international, who had another chance to grab the winner in the 90th minute. Serdar claimed, “We will take the point, but we’re not pleased with it because we wanted to win the game.”

The Royal Blues want to be much better in front of goal as they face Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart in the remaining two games. Two victories is the aim. “We want to take six points from the next two games,” said Omar Mascarell. Sebastian Rudy explained the importance of closing out the season by giving the fans two successful performances. “The focus now is on ending the season well and doing the important things differently next season.”

Breel Embolo also expressed the main aim to be “giving everything in the remaining games and picking up the six points that are available.” In order to do so, the team must do better in front of the opposition goal. “It is a positive sign that we created the chances to score, but we need to continue to do so in the upcoming games,” said the Swiss international.