“I would like to apologise on behalf of the club” - Hoffenheim match reaction

We gathered the thoughts from the players and coaches after Borussia's 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Valentino Lazaro: It was a very avoidable defeat considering how well we played in the first half. We created some great chances, we dominated the play and we recovered the ball well. We could have been two or three up at the break. We were more tentative in the second half and weren’t tight enough to our man. Still, I don’t think that Hoffenheim were clearly on top. We conceded the equaliser and then the red card soon after was the turning point. Unsportsmanlike conduct like that isn’t how I know Marcus Thuram. It’s a real pity for the team and for him. Hoffenheim had more space as a result and we started to worry about dropping points again. The last weeks have been very intensive, but it’s not an excuse. We want to pick ourselves back up now and give everything we’ve got in the cup game.

Marco Rose: On behalf of the club and personally as head coach, I would like to apologise for the red-card incident involving Marcus Thuram. It is completely out of line and has no place on the football pitch. Marcus is a good person, is self-reflecting and has been well raised. He must have blown a fuse in that moment – it’s the only explanation for his behaviour. I apologise for that. He has done his team a disservice. In terms of the match, we started the first half well. We had a few good chances and worked the ball well, but we allowed them to have a couple of chances too. We had the game under control and went into the break feeling good. We started over thinking things in the second half though. Our movement wasn’t as good going forward and we weren’t incisive going for the second goal. We’re conceding avoidable goals at the moment. It doesn’t feel good to come away with a defeat – we really wanted to get the win today at home, but we failed. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the new year, but first we have to give our all once more this year in the cup.

TSG Hoffenheim head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: We started well and had our chances, but we also had some problems at the back. We tried to press high up the pitch and win the ball early. Gladbach worked their way through well at times though and that meant that they had a lot of space to attack, which led to a couple of dangerous moments. We were at risk of throwing the game away at the end of the first half. We tinkered a little at the break and were much more brave and physical in the second half, and we started to gain control. It feels great to win. I think we deserve it because of how hard we worked in the second half. I accept Marco Rose’s apology for Marcus Thuram’s action on behalf of the club – good on him for saying it publicly.