André Schürrle did not hold back after the defeat by Mainz, declaring that it was impossible to win a Bundesliga match without showing passion, heart and aggression. "For us, the match just went really badly," explained the offensive midfielder.

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Why did you lose against Mainz 05?
"Mainz simply showed more heart, more passion and more aggression in the challenges. If you don't display those things, then it's not possible to win a Bundesliga match. We experienced that first-hand today. It's extremely difficult to explain."

How can it have happened after two matches that should've actually boosted your self-confidence?
"The match just went really badly for us. The early goals were a real killer for us. We had barely even got into the game properly and the score was already 1-0. Then we briefly get going, try something - and it's already 2-0. That brought back to us an element of uncertainty, it got restless in the stands. We tended to play backwards rather than forwards. That was different in the last two matches. Things simply worked out better from the start, we were in the game and wanted to get goals. We were missing that against Mainz today."

You barely won any second balls…
"That was to do with mental freshness. When it comes to second balls, you have to anticipate, you have to position yourselves so that you're standing where the ball will land. In our bad games, that has always been one of the main problems. We give away the second balls, are not able to exert pressure and are instead hit on the counter. We still have one match, we'll really need to put our foot on the gas and make the most of our quality."

"We need to be warned and to defend well"

Will you now be going to Hoffenheim with fluttering nerves?
"No, absolutely not. We have enough players in the team who can deal with the pressure and who have been in such matches before."

Your starting position going into that one is deceptive, isn't it?
"It's a dangerous one, for sure. Hoffenheim have shown in the last few weeks that they can win matches by a margin of two or three goals. We need to be warned and will need to defend very well. I do not believe that Leverkusen will win their final match by a 6-0 scoreline. But we need to focus on ourselves, show a different body language and improve in the challenges." (djg)