“It’s just what we needed” – #BMGVfB match reaction

We gathered the thoughts of the players and coaches following Borussia’s 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Friday night.

Jonas Hofmann: Coming back like that after an injury does you the world of good. Lasso spotted my run for my goal and played the perfect pass. We showed what we’re capable of with the goals we scored. The lads enjoyed their football today and played with a great deal of intelligence too. I want us to be able to produce that every time, but we’re only human. We were left to sweat a little at the end because Stuttgart put in a good away performance and forced us deep. We dealt with a lot at the back, but Tobi Sippel also produced a magnificent save at the end to secure the three points. Then comes Flaco off the bench, scores the third goal and goes crazy. It’s just what we needed tonight.

Tobias Sippel: The last two weeks have been very tough for me mentally. I didn’t get off to the best of starts with the two goals in Darmstadt, and that really got to me. It wasn’t exactly easy for me after the Union game either. My biggest asset was always being there when I’m called upon, and I wasn’t on those two occasions – that really hurt me and got under my skin. I’m proud of the boys for how much faith they have shown in me nevertheless. Maybe I was able to pay some of that back today. The win was hugely important for us, also mentally after losing our last two Bundesliga matches. We were determined to give it everything today and pick up the win, particularly at home. I’m over the moon that we pulled it off.

Christoph Kramer: It’s always more fun when you’re winning. You could see that our play is a lot more secure and free-flowing when we’re in front. We could have followed up the 2-0 lead with a quick third, then the game would have been all but done. Instead, we let them back in it and then we lost our rhythm and our composure a little. It’s a mental thing, and it’s understandable after the flak we’ve taken in recent weeks – that kind of thing leaves a mark. That’s why it was all the more important that we saw out the win.

Daniel Farke: We’ve been going through a difficult phase lately, so the win obviously will do us a lot of good. It wasn’t easy to set up our defence today with the number of absences we have, but the lads really dug deep and it was a top team performance. We were very dominant in the first half and scored two great goals that will make the highlights DVD. We focused more on our movement today and had some good deep runs, which made it more difficult to get to grips with us. The momentum shifted after Stuttgart’s goal, but we withstood the pressure and only really allowed them the one real chance in the second half, which Tobi Sippel brilliantly saved. Nevertheless, I think that we absolutely deserved the win today.

VfB Stuttgart head coach Michael Wimmer: We’re disappointed with the result. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the best of starts, which is something of a recurring issue with us at the moment. We went behind with their first shot of the game. We looked a little shaky after that and Flo Müller made two big saves. We started to grow into the game after 25 minutes or so and started to show what we came here to do. After our goal, we looked far more aggressive and braver, and really started to give Gladbach a game. The second half was more even, with us having the better chances, but you have to take those if you want to get a result here.