FC Köln match reaction

Julian Nagelsmann: We played really well in the first ten minutes and played well in the spaces in front of their defence as we planned. Unfortunatley, we couldn’t manage to get the ball in behind their defence though. After that it was a fairly poor match for us and we gave up possession a lot. Köln defended well, countered well and played decent football. They definitely created the best of the chances. I think that they deserved to take the lead. We put more pressure on them in the second half and were more stable. We started playing better after that and it was important that we picked up a point. We can’t really be proud of our performance though.

Peter Stöger: I am obviously happy with the end result.

Kevin Volland: Above all else we played poorly in the first half. Our mentality and fight were better in the second period, even if we didn’t play the best football. It was clear to us that it would be really difficult against Köln because they are very good defensively and don’t give you any space. That is why I am happy we came away from the game with a 1-1. It feels good to get over the line again but we really haven’t gained anything yet. We have a tough challenge coming up against Frankfurt next Saturday. My father always says that I need to run through more. I did that today and got the luck we needed to score the equaliser.

Sebastian Rudy: It is good to be out of the relegation zone. We only really got a point but it is important for our mindset. Köln played very well defensively and that’s why we couldn’t find any gaps. We created one or two chances but didn’t make the most of them. Luckily we got a late equaliser to make it 1-1. Apparently a Köln player was down on the ground but I didn’t see that.

Ermin Bicakcic: It was difficult after we conceded because we had to chase the game when we were 1-0 down. That is why it was that bit sweeter to score the late equaliser. We wanted a win today, but we have to be happy with a point after the way the match went. We will take that and look forward to Frankfurt on Saturday.

 

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