There was a mixture of relief, pride and melancholy in the words of the 05ers after their first win of the season against Leipzig following an eventful few days for the club. Both those responsible for the running of the club as well as the players were happy about the three points, but they also stressed how “brutal” and inexplicable the football business can be at times.
Reaction following the full-time whistle
Christian Heidel: “Football is a brutal business since there are things that you can’t explain. Jan told me after the game that it’s also a win for Bo Svensson. Our luck has turned and we didn’t make any individual errors. No head coach in the world can influence those kinds of things. The lads gave their all and we played exactly how you need to when you’re in a relegation battle. Jan contributed towards that as we hoped he would. We will calmly discuss how we move forwards from this. The pressure has reduced slightly today, but it’s nothing more than that.”
Robin Zentner: “I don’t know exactly what this result means for us. However, we only focused on this game beforehand, and especially on what happens on the pitch. We were able to influence that. We implemented what was expected of us. The power, which has been lacking recently, was there today. Bo wished for us to win today with our own approach. We managed that and I hope that he’s pleased at home.”
Martin Schmidt: “The win is good for all of us. We simply need to enjoy the result – this moment belongs to the whole team. We’ve been expecting this reaction for a long time and the boys showed what they’re capable of today. They fought hard and then sealed the win in ice-cold fashion. A change of head coach always triggers something and the team felt as though they had let Bo down a little bit on Thursday evening. It really hurt everybody. Bo told them that the biggest gift for him would be a win on Saturday and the lads managed that alongside Jan Siewert. The most important message today is: The relegation battle has well and truly started for us. The energy was there today.”
Karim Onisiwo: “Sometimes, you’re just lost for words. We hadn’t won in 14 games, which was hard for us. We adjusted a couple of little things. You could see how much we wanted it and you could feel the intensity of our play. We speak about it all the time here at Mainz. The first goal opened the floodgates. The whole stadium was with us. It was a big weight off our shoulders, mine included. I hope I can get a goal in our next couple of games. Bo leaving was really painful, especially for me on a personal level. The win today was definitely down to him to a certain extent. There’s a lot of Bo Svensson in all of us.”
Leo Barreiro: “The win today is a massive relief. For me personally, the past few days have been really emotional. I’m still a bit shocked. Jan Siewert diverted our attention back to the football and he did a great job. We adjusted our game plan and it came off. It was important to celebrate as a team after the goals. We’ve all suffered together over the past few weeks.”