"A brilliant evening for Leipzig!"
Head coach Marco Rose and players David Raum, Timo Werner, Willi Orbán and Emil Forsberg give their thoughts on the 3-2 win over Real Madrid
Marco Rose:
- "It was a brilliant evening for Leipzig. We played really well, our opening 35 minutes were fantastic and we were ahead 2-0. It was obvious that Real were then going to show their class and they made us run a lot. But we defended tirelessly and we won our duels. We dealt with everything in the second half and it was an open game. I think we didn’t allow them much. I’m very pleased with today’s performance and I’m happy that the boys believed in themselves and rewarded themselves. Despite the win, we know that we’re not through the group. We have to try and take the final step in Warsaw."
David Raum:
- "We’ve been feeling good over the past few days. We were tuned in and that’s how we started the game. We wanted a win in front of our home fans and that’s what we got. We fought hard for the win and in the end it was deserved. We have a lot of individual quality in our team but we also know how to fight. We willingly took on that task and everything worked well. We’re proud to have pulled off a big win in the Champions League. We don’t want to get carried away. If we do what we need to do, we’ll get through to the next round."
Timo Werner:
- "We played similarly to how we did in the reverse fixture. The chances that we turned into goals today went untaken in Madrid. We had a good first half in that game but today’s was even better. With the quality that we have, we made it hard for them after going 1-0 ahead, but their goal just before half time increased the pressure. Set pieces helped us a lot today and we picked up three important points. That’s what we were hoping for ahead of the game and that’s what we’ve come away with. Winning games in the Champions League is always a special feeling, whether it’s against Real, Shakhtar or Celtic. But of course, Real Madrid are a huge club. You always want to beat someone like that as much as possible."
Willi Orbán:
- "It feels fantastic. We know that we’d have good chances here at home, but the way we played in the first half was amazing. Our 2-0 lead was deserved. We were brave in our play when in possession and we did that really well. We knew we had to find a good balance between actively defending from the front and being secure and deep. We won a lot of important duels in the second half and in the end, we defended compactly and scored some nice goals. We have to make sure that we perform well in our final group game."
Emil Forsberg:
- "We started the game well. We were intense and played with a lot of passion. We really wanted to win the game and we were fired up. Our first half was really good. You’ll always concede chances against a team like that, but we defended passionately. We haven’t lost in eight games now and we’re doing well as a team. It was a great feeling to win in front of our fans. We’re all a bit tired now and we have a lot of games behind us. We know what’s at stake in Warsaw."