VfB Stuttgart 3-3 Mainz 05
Niko Bungert: “There were two sides to today’s game. That’s because we couldn’t put much of what we had planned into practice from at the start. Stuttgart wanted to lure us in and repeatedly outplayed us. We reacted badly to the long balls, but things improved after a good 20-minute spell and we also created chances. We were a bit lucky with the penalty, but in the end, we showed incredible resolve overall. The fact that Maxim Leitsch, of all people, managed to score the late winner had a big impact on the team. He has suffered many setbacks but can come away from the game today with a personal sense of achievement.”
Robin Zentner: “We did not start well today. We were really off it, didn’t help ourselves and deserved to go behind. After that though, we slowly got back into the game and restored our belief with the goal before the break. Stuttgart certainly had the better chances in the second half, but we did also score the offside goal. In the end, we come away from the game feeling positive because we came back and showed resolve. We also proved to ourselves that we can score three goals away from home. On top of that, the lads who came in gave us an added boost in the closing stages. I’m not totally satisfied with two points at this stage, but if you look at the games individually, it’s okay. We have a lot of work to do during the international break.”
Jonny Burkardt: “It was topsy-turvy game in which we started very poorly. We made some adjustments during the drinks break and brought it back to 2-1 at a good time. Unfortunately, the offside goal after the equaliser was ruled out. Stuttgart deserved to win 3-2 after how the final stages went, but we still believed that we could get a result. It was all the better that Leitschi was the one to score the goal. We take home a good point which we can be satisfied with after letting it slip last week.”
Kaishu Sano: “The pace of the Bundesliga is very high, which I will have to get used to it in order to be able to fully show my strengths on the ball. We wanted to win today, but after the poor start we demonstrated belief throughout the game that we could get something from it. We’re not entirely satisfied with two points after two games and I will also personally carry on working to improve. We want to finally get a win in the next game against Bremen.”