Julian Weigl gave an in-depth interview to BVBtotal! in the immediate aftermath of the defeat by Bayern Munich. "It could well have been 2-2 at the break," he said, though he felt that the Black & Yellows had not performed as well in the first half as they did in the second. He concluded by saying: "Now what we need is to get some results on the board as quickly as we can, starting in Stuttgart if possible."

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Julian, let's start from the beginning. What was your take on the first half?
"In the first half we were doing far too much chasing, weren't getting into the tackles and didn't have control. We'd actually wanted to be aggressive into the challenges when they played the ball into the midfield area. But the distances were simply too large, which meant we never even got into the challenges. That's how we made it easy for Bayern, because they like to have the ball and control of the match. Nonetheless, we were still very dangerous going forward, had opportunities to switch the play and clear goalscoring chances, even in the first half. It could have been 2-2 at the break."

What did Peter Bosz say to you at half-time?
"He certainly found the right words. We were more courageous in the second period, pressed higher up the pitch and put the opposition under pressure. All things considered though, we lost because Bayern were the cleverer team."

Why won't the ball go in for you at the moment?
"It's difficult to say. At the moment we're just not getting the rub of the green. Bayern scored their second goal because the ball took an unlucky deflection off me. At the moment things like that just aren't going in for us, even if we're clean through on goal or there's almost an empty goal. We're just going through a phase where we're not having any luck and Bayern, who are currently on a run, get a deflected goal like that gifted to them. It's not something you can explain, but it's very annoying for us because we had the chances."

"…come back stronger after the international break and go on a run"

To add insult to injury, Sokratis got injured. Have you heard what's wrong yet?
"No, not yet unfortunately. I hope it's nothing serious. He's one of our most important players."

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What do you need to do to turn your situation around? You'll have a bit of time to train during the international break…
"Perhaps it will do the internationals in the squad some good to have a change of scenery, to see something different for a bit and play with different teams so that they can look forward to coming back to BVB again. Thereafter, and for those who will be remaining in Dortmund, it will be a case of fully focusing on BVB. We need to get a string of results on the board as quickly as we can, starting in Stuttgart if possible. We hope that everyone will return injury-free so that the team stays together and the level of competition remains high. Then we'll hopefully be able to come back stronger from this international break and go on a run." (djg)