Hans-Joachim Watzke didn't see Christian Pulisic's winning goal live. He had left his place in the stands a few minutes earlier to appear as a guest on ZDF's Aktuelle Sportstudio in the Mainz district of Lerchenberg.

That meant the club's Chief Executive Officer only heard the winner go in from the catacombs and watched it "a short while later on Sky Go while traveling to the Aktuelle Sportstudio". Of the match, he said: "We made a very bright start and could have gone 1-0 or even 2-0 ahead. Then Hoffenheim took the initiative." Watzke attributed the come-from-behind victory to finally "getting the luck on the day". BVB had seldom had it in recent weeks, but "today it was on our side," he said.

Following the run of winless matches in October and November, which prompted a "gradual loss of confidence", he said that "Borussia Dortmund will be striving to be more active in shaping the play again". Watzke promised: "That will be the case in the second half of the season." He added: "We're not regressing. At this time last year we had 27 points, now we have 28." (br)