#BMGVfB: Match reaction

After the Foals’ 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 17 of the Bundesliga, we have the reactions of two-goal Robin Hack, as well as Marvin Friedrich and Julian Weigl and the two head coaches Gerardo Seoane and Sebastian Hoeneß.

Robin Hack: We couldn’t have wished for a better start to the new year. We started the game off amazingly with the goal after 21 seconds. The ball was a bit too far in front of me, so that’s why I took a long step forwards. It bobbled up a bit, but then I scored really well. I’ve waited a long time to score for Borussia in the Bundesliga, have worked a lot to improve myself and I’ve got my reward. It’s an unbelievably great feeling. We were brilliant in the first half, defended very well and were ice-cool in front of goal. That felt really good. In the second half, we weren’t as good for the first 15 or 20 minutes. We did things then that we actually hadn’t planned to. And Stuttgart of course had the quality to find and exploit the space. They had a few chances, but then we got back in control and had a few more good opportunities on the counterattack. We were rewarded for the team’s spirit and attitude with the third goal.

Marvin Friedrich: It was really important for us to take home the three points. We were very well-prepared for the opponents. Everyone knew what to expect. We knew that Stuttgart would have a lot of the ball and we would have to do a lot of defending. I think we did that determinedly over the whole 90 minutes. In the end, there was maybe a bit of luck involved in the result, but that’s just part of it. It was incredibly important that Jordan made it 3-1 at the end. Otherwise, it could have been tight at 2-1 once again. We’re over the moon that we could start 2024 with a win.

Julian Weigl: I’m extremely happy about the win. We fought until the end. The game was exactly as we expected and Stuttgart had a lot of possession. Therefore, we often had to manage without the ball, but we defended well together as a team. At the end, emotions boiled over after the third goal and the stadium erupted. We’re really happy about that, and the win was also very important for our position in the table.

Head coach Gerardo Seoane: We left a lot of space in the second half and defended very deeply. We didn’t want it to be like that, but we knew beforehand what kind of football Stuttgart are playing at the moment and how difficult it is to get the ball against them, how well they combine and keep in position. It’s very difficult to press them. They always find a way out. That’s why we defended deeply in general. The first half was good in every department. Of course there’s still the potential to improve, but we controlled the game very well without the ball, didn’t leave space in behind and anticipated passes really well. In the second half, the opponent shuffled the pack in a way we hadn’t expected. That caused us some difficulties. To counteract that, we moved Julian Weigl into the back five to resolve the situation.

Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß (VfB Stuttgart): We started the game extremely badly, going behind after 21 seconds. That knocked the wind out of our sails. We weren’t in the frame of mind that you have to be to start a game like this. We conceded the second goal after about 20 minutes, and there were other good chances in between. We needed a bit of time to find our way into this year, which resulted in us losing this game. That’s really frustrating. The match was incredibly difficult to play in. Gladbach sat very deep and left few spaces. We did alright against that. We were okay from the 20th or 25th minute onwards. But in the end, we were missing something, particularly in the final third.