"Mainz fought with passion and ran nine kilometres more in total," said a critical Sebastian Kehl, the head of the licensed player division. Julian Brandt echoed that sentiment and also criticised the "things we did with the ball, which were a bigger problem today". The equally critical Thorgan Hazard turned his attention to the upcoming game in Leipzig: "We have to win; then everything will be okay again." Here are the match reactions.

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Sebastian Kehl: "It was definitely not enough today. We invested too little. Mainz were desperate to win. They noticed that there was something in it for them here today. Mainz fought with passion and ran nine kilometres more in total. From our perspective, it was simply far too little. We have to acknowledge responsibility for that, because we could've taken a big step today. Now we have to do it on Saturday. I didn't really have the feeling during the week that we'd dropped off. But it looked different in the game today, and everyone has to question themselves about that."

Julian Brandt: "We made a lot of mistakes. No-one performed to their limit. If you play against a team that is fighting against relegation, you have to perform to your limit; you will not beat teams like that otherwise. The Bundesliga's also too competitive for that – and so it was simply too little. I think that the nine kilometres' difference in terms of ground covered also shows the desire of this Mainz team; they simply had more of that today. That obviously relates to us to some degree, but it was more the things we did with ball that were a bigger problem today. We made too many mistakes, and by doing so that obviously strengthens an opponent that is in a relegation battle. It'll definitely be another cracker against Leipzig on Saturday. It will be a different game than the last three games. We've played against lower opponents and had a lot of ball possession. Now we'll go up against an opponent that tries to take the initiative themselves. It becomes a bit more open – but still dangerous because they have very, very high quality."

Thorgan Hazard: "I don't think we had a good game. That wasn't enough from anyone. The pressing and the chance creation were poor. I think Mainz fought more. Of course, we can perform better on Saturday. We have to win; then everything will be fine again. It's going to be an interesting match. We performed well in the home fixture; in the end it was 3-3. Today might've been the worst home game of the season. We didn't find good solutions and we now need to work together to find better solutions on Saturday."
Transcribed by Timo Lammert