Sporting Director Michael Zorc had almost nothing to fault in BVB's performance after their 2-1 victory away at Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League. He praised the team and said to sky: "Everybody gave all they had today physically." Here, the initial reaction to the game.

Michael Zorc: "The final phase of the game was thrilling. After the score had gone to 2-1, we didn't really manage to control the ball and the opposition as well as we had done. Prior to that I was really impressed by the performance, especially given the fact that we were using two players from the A-Youth team, and sent on a third in Dzenis Burnic. That is not not something you can simply ignore and get on with as though everything were normal. Everybody gave everything they had today physically. We played Piszczek, Bartra and Sokratis, who had previously been injured and were not in peak condition. We need to finish things off now at home. In the return leg against Sporting, we can make a huge step towards the round of 16."

Mario Götze: "That we picked up all three points means we did a good job. It became quite hectic towards the end. Overall, though, we can be relatively satisfied. It was a hard fought game. I'd like to say well done to the team. We are really happy to have taken the three points."

Roman Bürki: "It was a real shame that Sporting simply continued to play when I put the ball out of play and Sokratis was still lying on the floor. I think that is a real pity. I have never seen something like that before. However, we won, and that is the most important thing. With regard to injuries, we have had a lot of bad luck recently. Everybody's lying on the massage benches and is getting treatment from the physios. We are fighters. We had a good team on the pitch tonight, and we will continue to in future. It was a season defining game for us tonight. To win away in Lisbon is a big step towards the round of 16." 

Julian Weigl: "I am not really sure what I did for the goal. I am ecstatic that I finally found the back of the net. The manager keeps saying we have got to take our chances, and I managed that tonight. Sporting showed fight though in attempting to get themselves back into the game. But we gave our all, and we are happy that we made it over the line to win the game 2-1."  (fu)