Though Gonzalo Castro said in a post-match interview that he could accept defeat against Bayern Munich, the midfielder admitted that BVB "lost by too many goals". He added: "Eventually big gaps opened up and there was a lot of space for Bayern. And of course they have the quality to take advantage of that."

Was the goal you conceded immediately after the break the crucial point in the match?
It obviously hurts. We came out, hoping to get back into the game and ready to give it everything we had. But we conceded the third straightaway. Then it becomes an uphill struggle in Munich. They're on a great run and you can see they have a lot of confidence. Ultimately, we shouldn't have lost by so many goals because the goals came out of nothing. But I can accept defeat against Bayern Munich.

"We need to focus on our performance"

What made the difference today?
If you're losing 2-1 at the half-time break, it's always difficult. Then we conceded a third directly after the restart, had to dust ourselves down and get ready to go again. Eventually big gaps opened up and there was a lot of space for Bayern. And of course they have the quality to take advantage of that.

What was your personal experience of the situation before the penalty?
I was standing directly opposite. It looked like he might have made minimal contact. I don't really know if that always warrants a spot-kick. But that's what the ref gave and that's part of it. We had the situation where "Auba" was clean through on goal. Some referees might give a red for that; he gave a yellow. But those are small details that we mustn't let get to us. We need to focus on our own performance.

"The other results did help us out a bit"

You set up the goal for Aubameyang…
We played the ball out from the back very well. "Miki" turned brilliantly in the middle of the park and then saw that I was free on the right. I saw that "Auba" was running in and played the pass to him. Ultimately, though, it doesn't matter who scores the goal or who sets it up. We wanted to get another after that. But unfortunately we didn't manage it.

Wolfsburg, Schalke and Leverkusen all dropped points on matchday 8 too. Is that a small consolation?
The other results did help us out a bit. But now we need to recover well over the international break. We hope that all our internationals come back injury-free. Then we have to face Mainz on the Friday. That will be just as tough." (djg)