Following the win over Mainz the Borussia Dortmund players declared themselves pleased with the result, but not the performance. “Mainz made life difficult for us,” said Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while Sebastian Kehl stated, “We performed better in the second half and in the end probably deserved to win.”

Lukasz Piszczek: “I think you could see that I’m not yet able to last a full 90 minutes. But, of course, I’m happy with the win, and the three points are very important. It was a result of will as Mainz fought until the end.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates his free-kick goal.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: “I put in extra shifts after almost every training session to work on free-kicks with Marco Reus. In the cup game in Munich I was given the chance to take a free-kick for the first time, but was denied by the cross-bar. Today it worked out perfectly and of course I’m very happy about it.”

Sven Bender: “I had a muscle problem which is why I had to come off. I didn’t have a good feeling during the game. Had I stayed on it could have made “bang” at some stage and maybe something worse could have happened. That’s why I think it was better to come off.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Benedikt Saller.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan: “It was a difficult game as Mainz played really well and made life difficult for us. They were compact and at times put us under enormous pressure. The most important thing was that we made adjustments to our game in the second half. It helped us to win this match and we are very pleased about it.”

Sebastian Kehl: “Mainz made it very, very difficult for us. They were very aggressive, defended well and put in a lot of running, and they pushed us to the limit. In the second half we were more committed and performed better and in the end probably deserved to win.”

Robert Lewandowski: “It wasn’t an easy game, but we also didn’t play to our potential. At the end of the day the three points are all that matter. And after a game like this you are all the more pleased about them.”

Manuel Friedrich: “I’m very happy about the win. My timing and anticipation is almost back to where it once was. Of course, there are a few things we will need to talk about, but in the end the three points are all that matter.”