Even Jürgen Klopp had to take a step back and draw breath in the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 defeat in Cologne, “It’s a bitter, bitter blow,” he remarked in an interview with SKY TV, adding, “Again today you saw the team put the effort in, but that just isn’t enough.”

Peter Stöger (Cologne): “We put two things to bed today. We scored at home at last and that was enough to grab us a win. We are so very happy and it is, of course a big shock. I just have to congratulate my lads. The win was especially important because we showed a very positive reaction to the way the last few weeks have gone. It is hard to remain positive when the points don’t come. We still have a lot more to do to be able to find our feet in this league.”

Jürgen Klopp (BVB): “One or two players seemed to be off their stride, but Ilkay and Marco came back and did well. We gave the ball away too easily, were caught out of position at the back, invited counter attacks. We had a lot of possession in the first half but didn’t do a great deal with it. And when you lose the ball as we did, then chasing back to defend takes its toll. We kept managing to do that, but inevitably you are going to get caught eventually. Kevin Vogt did just that. So we get back to 1-1, then concede again from a situation that wasn’t even a real chance. So you attack again but fail to score. It is very, very hard to take, but we have to get through this period, just have to. We have to show some bottle, no question. You saw once again today that the team put the effort in, but that just isn’t enough. You have to maintain your composure like we did when we equalised. The game was then quite stretched and we were going for the kill, pressing and then concede such a naïve goal. And the final whistle blows and we have nothing. Tough.”