"We demonstrated fantastic team spirit"

Marcel, does the conclusion you draw today have to be that you picked up a point against all odds?
That's a good way to put it. There was a lot of aggression in that match. At a certain point we started to follow suit and allowed ourselves to commit some fouls. But I think if we hadn't, we wouldn't have got the point. Given that we played with ten men for such a long time, this point is more than deserved.

Let's discuss the goals one by one. You went 1-0 down with just 122 seconds on the clock. What happened there?
We actually moved out from the back well but Uth ran into exactly the right gap. Of course it's stupid that we fell behind so early on but on the whole, I think we demonstrated fantastic team spirit.

"In a situation like that, the slightest of pushes is enough"

Then Götze made it 1-1. Dembélé set up the goal brilliantly, didn't he?
It really is incredibly difficult to play against Ousmane. I don't know whether you can show understanding if the opposition repeatedly foul him, but I certainly think that players like him should be protected. It's incredible how quickly he manages to run round the opposition. In such situations it's also highly likely that he'll get injured if he's caught while running at that speed.

Before Wagner put them 2-1 up there was a very controversial push on Sven Bender. How do you see the situation?
Of course, it's difficult at that moment for the defender and Sandro did it very cleverly, but you still have to say that it was a foul. At the exact moment Sven wanted to jump, he got that push from behind. And that's exactly why he wasn't able to get to the ball. Anyone who has ever played football knows that in a situation like that, the slightest of pushes is enough.

"Exactly what nobody expected"

What did the coach say at the half-time interval?
Exactly what nobody in the stadium expected: that we should go up a gear, put Hoffenheim under pressure in attack and get another goal. And we managed that. But after that you have to accept that at some point it's going to be difficult against a team as good as Hoffenheim – they are up there for a reason – and that when you have fewer players your energy levels of course dwindle.

And then you equalised at 2-2. First Wagner's effort hit the post and then you countered immediately…
Yes, that's exactly how we wanted to play. Defend at the back and then let Ousmane und "Auba" counter. Both of them did that superbly for the goal.

"Even happier that we demonstrated this spirit"

Has this spirit been lacking a bit in the first half of the season? There have been some matches where you've suffered unnecessary defeats...
Partly. But you have to acknowledge that we are decimated by injuries at the moment. Once again, we have ten players out injured. That makes it difficult for us. It's been said often enough: we had a huge upheaval and now we have a lot of new and young players in the team. When so many players are consistently missing, it's really difficult for the team because you never play with the same line-up for several matches in succession. That renders coordination difficult. For that reason I'm even happier that we demonstrated this spirit and at least have a point to take home with us. (djg)