Thomas Tuchel witnessed a "tough game" against Hannover, in which the opposition "defended fiercely and very compactly". Nonetheless, he was happy with the victory, and declared that his team is ready for the tough tests they will face in the coming weeks. Here follow the BVB Manager’s comments on the game.

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Thomas Tuchel on the first 20 minutes:
"We started really well in the first 15-20 minutes, dominated the ball in our opponent’s half, while Marco Reus created a chance that would normally be converted 99 times out of a 100.  There was also the free kick that hit the bar. After that we had some chances and some half-chances on the counter. There were also a few through balls into the area that we didn’t play precisely enough, in our good phase too."

…on the rest of the game:
"Overall it was a tough game. Imprecision crept into our game, and then subsequently poor concentration and technical mistakes as well. It looked as though we were thinking too much, as though we needed extra time to feel comfortable on the ball and to find space in which we could up the tempo of the game. The opposition defended fiercely and very compactly. We didn’t get into any dangerous areas in our opponent’s half and overlooked a couple of things there. As such, it was a tough game for the rest of the 70 minutes, and we could have played better."

"We know that there is room for improvement"

…on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal:
"‘Miki’ finished off the only counterattack of the second half in spectacular fashion. He decided late, but made the right decision with real conviction. He met the ball cleanly and ultimately scored the winning goal. We are really happy about that."

…on his team's underwhelming performance:
 "We know that there’s room for improvement. We couldn’t give everything we’ve got today, but that’s OK. In the coming weeks we’ll be tested to our limits, but we feel ready for that."

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Thomas Tuchel after the game with his captain Mats Hummels.

"It is still worth a lot"

…on his team's mentality:
"First and foremost, we are, of course, happy that our mentality and aggression in the game ultimately got us the result. It is still worth a lot, even if it didn’t look particularly good for long periods of the game compared with our normal performances. We are really happy about that."

…on Matthias Ginter's early substitution:
"I don’t have any exact information yet, so I think I can say with some certainty that it is nothing that serious. He fell badly after an aerial battle for the ball. But I believe, and hope, that it is nothing too bad."

Recorded by Dennis-Julian Gottschlich