BVB boss Thomas Tuchel also appeared disappointed as he spoke to sky after the match in Mainz. "We simply weren't active enough," he lamented, but was already looking ahead to the match against Leipzig next week.

Thomas Tuchel, what annoys you the most today?
"The fact that we lost our identity! I got the feeling we were happy to sit back and defend. Our mentality seemed to suggest that we thought it was simply a case of battling and that we would manage to win it somehow and take a 1-0 victory home with us. We simply weren't active enough. That is the main point of criticism I have. We didn't have the courage to move ourselves further forward and thus calm the game down. In fact the match started to be played from one penalty area to the other. The ball spent more time in the air than it did on the ground. We did not make use of our opportunities to switch the play either, otherwise we could have won. It can always happen that you are punished like that late on."

Regarding switch-play: next Saturday you host Rasenballsport Leipzig. Is there a score to settle there?
"Yes of course. We lost the first match late on, we even hit the crossbar through André Schürrle. But it's not about settling scores. Of course we want to get back the points that we dropped. But in that match we will face an even sterner test than we did here against Mainz. It will be a very, very difficult match.

Third place is at stake…
"Yes, that's what the entire season half of the season is about." (djg)