The game against Mainz was the opening fixture in a busy next three weeks. BVB have six more games to play in that period. Marco Rose spoke at the press conference about today's match and the upcoming fixtures.

Marco Rose on the game and the victory: "We're very happy with the three points, of course. We knew what to expect. And that's what we got. We did not think Mainz would be so passive in the first half. But we dealt with that well, got into the game really well and quickly scored a nice goal. We always felt that everything was under control, even though we were sometimes a bit erratic. In the second half, Mainz were more active. Making it 2-0 actually gave us the breathing space we needed, but we made life difficult for ourselves again. That was unnecessary. All in all, it was a decent game over 90 minutes, a deserved victory and so a good start to the next phase."

... on Erling Haaland: "We needed him today, including for defending set-pieces. He defended well towards the end. And then he went and scored another goal in the 95th minute. That came in handy (laughs)..."

... on the schedule of seven games in 22 days: "The next few weeks will be really challenging. We have to be careful. Ajax, Bundesliga, Cup, Bundesliga, Ajax again, Bundesliga. That's a lot of games, and we need every one of our players. That's why we sent Emre out there today, because on the one hand we are convinced of his quality and on the other he needs to get back into the rhythm of playing again. We took Mats off a bit early today because we want to take the strain off his knee a bit. Our captain has played a lot of games. That's why we also took Marco Reus off a little earlier."

... on Thomas Meunier's fourth assist this season (Bundesliga and Champions League): "He's developing really well. You can tell that he has confidence in his game. He shows that every week and gives us power. Thomas has a lot of pace and defends well. He's an important factor for us."
Transcribed by Timo Lammert