“A day to forget” - #B04BMG reaction

We heard from Yann Sommer, Max Eberl and the two head coaches after Borussia’s 4-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday night.

Yann Sommer: It was very much a day to forget. We were worse than our opponents in a number of areas. We conceded two goals early on and luck wasn’t on our side at all, especially when you look at the number of injuries we picked up. The ball was quite far away from me for the own goal, but it was just coming too fast as I turned around and it hit me and went in, and then of course you’re left looking a bit foolish. Patrik Schick had a lot of space for his goal and it was hard to read the shot. I got across to it a little too late and so I couldn’t get enough of my hand to the ball. I don’t want to make excuses – it was a day to forget for all of us. Defeats are a part of sport. We have to analyse it well, keep our heads up and then get it everything against Union next week.

Sporting director Max Eberl: There are days where you would have been better off staying at home. I think we lost the game right at the start. When you go 2-0 down inside eight minutes to a team like Leverkusen, you’re left with a mountain to climb. Still, we had the chance to pull one back with the penalty, and it could have been a very different game if that goes in. We had a decent spell early in the second half too where we could have scored, but we didn’t take our chances. Leverkusen grew in confidence from there and we couldn’t keep up. It looks like Stevie Lainer may have broken his ankle, but he has to undergo examinations first. I thought it was a dangerous challenge. Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea have both suffered knee injuries by the looks of it.

Head coach Adi Hütter: The first goal was very unlucky. We tried to respond, but we ended up conceding another straightaway. We came close to getting a goal back early in the second half and that could have sent the game in a very different direction. It would have done us good psychologically to have scored before ethe break as well. Instead, we ended up going 3-0 down from a deflected shot. Leverkusen were very strong today – there were more aggressive than us and carried more of a threat. They were better than us tactically and in terms of work rate too, which I wasn’t happy with. All in all, it’s a real bump down to earth, and the injuries just make it a horrible day.

Bayer Leverkusen head coach Gerardo Seoane: I think we had the whole game under control. We were clinical and scored our goals very early on. The opening goal was of course very unfortunate for Yann Sommer. The decisive moments all went our way. Our goals came at the right time and we saved a penalty at an important moment. Gladbach have a lot of quality and it certainly could have become very difficult for us if they had gotten a goal back.