Twice in three days, his team has been pushed to the limits of its athleticism in poor pitch conditions. "Now we need to recover with care. There is enough time," said Thomas Tuchel after a "great game, a great match to coach in" in the DFB Cup away to VfB Stuttgart.

Thomas Tuchel on the cup clash away to VfB:
"It was a great game, a great match to coach in. It was as intense as we expected. We dominated in the first 45 minutes and stopped them countering quickly at an early stage. In the second half it was slightly more open. We squandered three or four chances on the counter. So it remained very close until the end. We could have scored the third goal earlier, but under the difficult conditions and given the situation we were facing, we put in an almost perfect performance - with a perfect result."

...on the second match within three days on a poor pitch and the upcoming match against Hannover:
"We need to recover well. There is enough time. Good that it is only Tuesday. We now have a busy period with lots of matches. We knew that we had to put in a lot. We knew how strong VfB are now, how passionately they can play. We also knew how difficult the pitch would be to play on. We knew we would have to push ourselves to our limits. The physical effort put in by both teams is to be emphasised. Now we need to recover with real professionalism and care. Then we will be at 100% from the very first minute on Saturday."

...on Marco Reus:
"He is a sensitive, creative player. He needs to feel like he does not have to think about his body. We are not quite there yet, but we are on an unbelievably good path. It is important not to want too much too soon. We want to get him through the season at all costs. I find it remarkable how focused he is, how much bite he is developing and how shrewdly he can move in the spaces."

Compiled by Boris Rupert