“We Believed Until the Very End”

Miro Muheim: It’s incredibly emotional to win a game like that in the final minute in front of the fans who have travelled to support us. It was something special, and we really enjoyed it. We believed until the very end and turned the game around. We earned that win. It was a tough game. It wasn’t easy for me to come on; it felt a little unfamiliar. To then contribute an assist and a goal to the winning effort is incredible. I’m absolutely delighted that I was able to help the team. We’ve lost one of our key players in Rambo. We all hope he hasn’t suffered too serious an injury. Rambo is extremely important to us because of the stability he brings to our defence. It wasn’t easy when he had to come off.

Yussuf Poulsen: When you lose your captain and an absolute regular in the starting line-up, things naturally become difficult. We only played two matches without Rambo last season, so it takes some getting used to again. Miro did a great job in that position and, after the sending-off, also got involved in our attacking play alongside Wolfi. The whole team showed fantastic spirit and, based on the final 20 minutes, deserved the win. We also showed how adaptable we can be in the way we play and respond to different situations. The coaching staff got that absolutely right today. Personally, my body is holding up well at the moment. I’m glad to be gradually getting back to the kind of form where I can give everything for around an hour.

Daniel Heuer Fernandes: There were an incredible number of duels and little scraps throughout the 90 minutes. We knew exactly what to expect here: an opponent who wants to play with great intensity and does so. We tried to play through them with long balls, which helped us get into the game. We managed that well over the 90 minutes, even though the goals came late on. Throughout the match, you had the feeling that something was in the air today. It was a game that kept swinging one way and then the other. Both teams wanted to win, and I’m glad we came off the pitch as the winners. We can be pleased with both the performance and the result today. That should give us a boost going into our next matches. Of course, losing Rambo was a blow to our game, but we dealt with it as a team – for his sake as well. He’s just said a few words to us and told us how proud he was of the way we responded.

Terem Moffi: We’re very proud. I’m happy that I was able to help the team with my goal. Miro’s cross was absolutely superb. All I had to do was get myself into position. After that, I had the feeling that we still had a chance to win the game. And we managed to do it in the final minute. It’s an extraordinary feeling to see how many HSV fans made the journey here to watch the game. Incredible! We’re grateful to every single person who came to support us.

Merlin Polzin: It’s no secret that I have a great deal of respect for the work Christian Ilzer and his team are doing. We knew this was going to be a difficult game for us. Before the match, we had thought carefully about a number of things that would suit our style of play and were important to us in order to prevent Hoffenheim from making the most of their strengths. The team put in an outstanding shift, and everything came together perfectly. We threw ourselves into every challenge and tried to play through situations intelligently. We also managed to make the most of the momentum, particularly after the second yellow card and subsequent sending-off, stay composed and implement the things we had worked on in training when playing with a numerical advantage. All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon for us. It was a great team performance, together with everyone who supported us in the stadium. There were lots of individual stories, whether you think of Miro, Yussi or Terem. Of course, all of that has been overshadowed by what happened to Rambo. We’re hoping for the best, but it doesn’t look good. There is a suspicion of a cruciate ligament injury, and we’re waiting for the detailed examinations to confirm the diagnosis. It’s a devastating moment for him and for us as a team, because he embodies what the new HSV is supposed to stand for.

Christian Ilzer: Congratulations to HSV. Looking at the match as a whole, the victory was deserved. We had a difficult start and weren’t able to put our opponents under pressure in situations where they were uncomfortable. We struggled for quite a while, but gradually worked our way into the game. We then had a strong spell of pressure before half-time and were rewarded with the equaliser. We built on that in the second half. After going 2–1 up, we had control of the game, until the second yellow card and subsequent sending-off shifted the momentum once again. However, that wasn’t what decided the match. We should have defended better even when down to ten men. We failed to do that today, and at the moment, we’re generally finding it difficult to summon the enormous amount of energy required to defend effectively.