“It’s a moment for us to learn from"

Nicolai Remberg: We were much better in the second half and tried to play with more confidence. But you need that from the very first minute if you want to compete here. We simply allowed ourselves to be pushed too deep from the start. It sounds like an excuse, but we needed to be much more aggressive in the challenges. Dortmund had too much possession, we were just chasing after them, and that makes it easy for them and difficult for us. We didn’t manage to give ourselves any relief. Merlin told us exactly that after the game: every action counts. We have to show it from the first minute and not only from the second half onwards. We had the same feeling ourselves. The defeat hurts, but we leave here with a feeling of, Okay, we can take something from this.

Daniel Heuer Fernandes: We were too passive in the first 12 minutes and switched off twice in the first half. That’s a sign for us that we have to be switched on and focused for the full 90 minutes. BVB have incredible quality between the lines and they exploited that. The reaction we showed in the second half is exactly what I want to see from our team. We put in a composed performance after the break and created chances. We also had control of the game. If we had managed to land one or two punches, the game could have gone in a different direction. I’m confident that we can build on that.

Merlin Polzin: We were too passive and didn’t manage to find the right moments to press. With both goals we conceded, you can see that we weren’t alert enough and didn’t execute the things we had planned. Against the quality Dortmund have and the way they play football, that makes it difficult. Half-time was a crucial moment for me. We saw that the team is capable of making adjustments within a game. We played the second half with more courage and took more risks defensively. That allowed us to create one or two chances, although at times we lacked the composure and a bit of luck. For 45 minutes, we showed a side of ourselves that I can really identify with, but not for the full 90. It’s a moment for us to learn from and take the next steps. The BVB victory was fully deserved.

Niko Kovac: For the most part, I’m happy with what we showed. We played a really good first half. It was excellent. We should actually have been more than 2-0 up. HSV came into the game better and with more energy in the second half. We gave the ball away too cheaply too often. On top of that, there was Konstantelias’ injury, which affected us. That was a bit of a turning point. You could see how important he is to us.