Thomas Tuchel's conclusion was clear: "Darmstadt were much closer to being at 100 percent than we were." He felt their 2-1 triumph was deserved, while Roman Bürki lamented BVB's lack of aggression as he gave an interview to sky.

Thomas Tuchel: "It was a deserved victory for Darmstadt. That, on its own, shows have little of our quality we displayed on the pitch today. If our performance is so far below what we are capable of and the opposition performs close to their best, it is only fair that we lose this match and that the team that displays its full potential wins. Darmstadt were much closer to being at 100 percent than we were. It's only fair and deserved that they won the match."

Roman Bürki: "We had high hopes for today, but we simply couldn't get into the game. Something clearly wasn't right. We weren't present enough. We weren't aggressive enough. Nor were we strong enough in the tackles. We got quite a few things wrong today. It was difficult to compete against this experienced and battling Darmstadt side with the young team we had out there. We were lacking the absolute determination to defend. The opposition had too much space to play. Darmstadt put in a good performance, but we didn't show our true colours out there."

Dženis Burnić: "Given that the team did not succeed today, I can't be too happy with my Bundesliga debut. I wasn't expecting it at all. I was very excited. I had butterflies in my stomach while I was warming up. Darmstadt played with a lot of aggression. We couldn't find the gaps in their defence. Somehow things just weren't quite right, both in attack and defence."

Torsten Frings (Darmstadt 98 coach): "We delivered an outstanding performance and perfectly implemented what we set out to do today. We didn't want to let Dortmund get into the game. What was even more important was that we played with great self-belief. I'm extremely proud of the team's efforts. We need to remain humble. It was a first step. We need to keep going now."