#SVDBMG: Match reaction

After the 3-3 draw at SV Darmstadt, we have the reactions of Rocco Reitz, Julian Weigl, Florian Neuhaus and the two head coaches Gerardo Seoane and Torsten Lieberknecht.

Rocco Reitz: In the first half, we didn’t produce on the pitch what the coach wanted us to. The four substitutions at half time gave us new energy on the field. Of course the Darmstadt red card played into our hands. We then exploited the numerical advantage well and equalised. That shows our morale and the team spirit we have. At the end of the day, 3-3 is okay, but it doesn’t really feel good as we had enough chances in the second half to win the game.

Julian Weigl: We did nothing right in the first half today. We weren’t in the game at all. That’s something which we’ll have to analyse strongly this week. Darmstadt had a lot more of a grip on the game and wouldn’t let us come into it. The coach made it clear to us at the break what had to happen in the second half. I think we showed that. It was positive that we could demonstrate this reaction straight after half time. Despite being behind, the fans supported us the whole time. That definitely gave us momentum. However, for us it’s about bringing more onto the pitch and getting positive results.

Florian Neuhaus: I think we can’t be pleased, even though we got a point in the end. We completely slept through the first half, but got into the game in the second. Darmstadt got the red card and we got the penalty. It actually couldn’t have gone better for us. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take advantage of the spot-kick, but we still came back afterwards. We had enough chances for five or six goals though and didn’t use a lot of situations well enough. We certainly have to work on that.

Head coach Gerardo Seoane: We had a poor first half, in which very little clicked for us. We didn’t enter enough individual battles, didn’t win any second balls and were therefore left chasing shadows. We also didn’t create anything going forward and that’s why we went into the break 3-0 down. The four substitutions at half time and above all the red card for Darmstadt changed the game. At eleven against ten it was completely different. We remained very patient with an extra man and created a lot of goalscoring chances. I have to compliment my team for this. But I have to admit honestly that without the sending off we probably wouldn’t have come back.

Head coach Torsten Lieberknecht (SV Darmstadt): The lads adjusted very well and did a lot right. In the first half, we played fantastically and had multiple chances to increase the scoreline to 4-0 or even 5-0. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luck needed to finish off certain situations. Of course the red card changed the game. With the double whammy, which was very harsh in my opinion, the game got a completely different feel. In the end, we ran out of steam a bit when we were a man down. Nevertheless, we’ve managed to get a point and score three goals. We’ll take these positives with us.