Reaction against FSV Mainz 05

Marco Pezzaiuoli: We had big plans for today, but I think our record against Mainz played too much on the player's minds. In the first half we never found our rhythm. We were only in the match after the 60th minute and we were once again really naïve following the equalizer. Mainz fully deserved the win.

Thomas Tuchel: We played well from the very first whistle and took a deserved lead in the first half. At that point in the match we really could've, and maybe should've scored more. Hoffenheim were able to build up the pressure, but we were still having the better chances, although the longer the match went on the harder it became for us to defend the lead. When we conceded the leveler a winner wasn't that conceivable. We certainly deserved these three, very helpful, points today.

Sejad Salihovic: Of course we wanted to win, but we gave the match away with our first half performance. We organized ourselves in the second half, but the hard work was undone when we let them score the winner so easily. No one will argue that Mainz deserved what they got today.

Tom Starke: We expected a lot more of ourselves. Nothing worked for us during the first 45 minutes and we've let points slip in both of our last two home matches. We don't have anything to do with the European qualification spots.

Heinz Müller: The ball that led to the equalizer was a difficult ball to deal with, but at the end of the day I should be dealing with it first time. We've been unlucky recently, but today luck was on our side once again. Now we cant think about setting new goals.

Andreas Ivanschitz: Today was a big step up for us. We're gradually getting the consistency back into our game. We're still looking at this game-by-game, though, instead of worrying about Europe.