"We're hard to beat at home!"
Head coach Marco Rose and players Willi Orbán, Ørjan Nyland and Timo Werner react to the 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen
Marco Rose:
- "We’re really pleased with the result. It wasn’t a pleasing game on the eye and we weren’t expecting it to be, because both teams have had a lot of games recently. Both teams took on the fight and you could see that with regard to a few things, we weren’t used to playing with a back three. The goal from the free kick definitely helped us. We didn’t allow much, defended well, made use of an opportunity to counter and won an important home fixture."
See also
Willi Orbán:
- "We weren’t very dangerous at the start and Christo’s goal was important and made life easier for us. We can become dangerous out of our compact position and Timo capped a nice move of that at the end. It was a deserved win – it doesn’t always have to be pretty.
We’ve built on our strong home form. Our record here is really good and we’re looking forward to the upcoming games. Next week we have a tough and intense game against Shakhtar. We want to win in Poland and reach the next round. We know what we need a good performance, but we need them every three days at the moment."
Ørjan Nyland:
- "Although it was my debut, I was quite relaxed ahead of the game. The boys have accepted me really well here and made everything easy for me. Everyone in the club works hard for success and it was a great feeling to get a win today.
Both teams were a little bit tired after the Champions League in midweek. Scoring the opening goal helped us; it settled us down. The second goal also came at a good moment of the game. It wasn't an easy game, but we've come out of it with three points. We're hard to play against here at home and we want that to continue."
Timo Werner:
- "We found it difficult in the first half and the goal helped us a lot. Leverkusen had to open up a little bit after that. We defended well and we’re a really good side when we’re a goal ahead. We could have put the game to bed a bit earlier, but on balance, our second goal was deserved.
A space appeared for my goal and Doudou played it perfectly. Then I just thought, 'it's all or nothing!' It was either going to be a goal or I wasn't going to score today. Luckily it went in.
Marco Rose has brought the style of play that we need. We have a lot of speed going forward and we’ve found a system that fits us, even if we used a different one today. On top of that, things are falling our way at the moment.
We’re confident ahead of the final Champions League group stage game. After the first game against Shakhtar, we know what can happen if we’re not switched on. The wins we’ve picked up recently in the Champions League should give us the courage to go and win the final one."
