Marco Reus sees BVB in a good position in the championship race after the 2-1 win over Leipzig, but also warns: “We mustn’t push our luck too far.”
Eighth Bundesliga victory in a row – BVB has never been better in its history. Borussia Dortmund played well against RB Leipzig for one half, then came under a lot of pressure – and saved the narrow 2-1 win to the finish. The man for the important 1-0 was once again Marco Reus. The captain scored the 159th goal for Dortmund and tied with club legend Michael Zorc in second place on the all-time list.
After the game, the BVB captain spoke about the difficulties in the course of the game, the luck of the brave, the reasons for the current winning streak – and the chances of winning the trophy in the fight for the German championship. At least until Saturday evening, the black and yellow are at the top of the table.
Marco Reus about …
… the chances in the fight for the German championship:
I don’t want to arouse the euphoria too much, but I still remember where we were during the winter break. We were sixth there and ten points behind Bayern. We are very happy to take the flow that we have right now with us. But nobody’s going nuts now. We already know that we still have a lot of games to play. We now have Chelsea, then Schalke and Cologne, then it’s the international break. These will also be very crucial games in the league, in which we can increase the gap again. Then we’ll see. Of course we like being up there, but we also know that we can’t buy anything from it just yet.
… two different halves against Leipzig:
In the first half we did much, much better than in the second half. We knew better how to start with the ball. But we rarely managed to get past the last line in Leipzig, which was very high. We could have played that a lot better. After the break there was a lot of pressure from Leipzig, but we didn’t get nervous.
… the problems after the break:
It was very difficult in the second half because Leipzig played very well in position. We didn’t have many solutions when we had possession of the ball and we struggled a lot. We chased a lot. When we then had the ball, we lacked the power.
… the luck of the fit:
We were lucky in two or three situations. But that’s what you get when you’re at the top. We’re happy to take that with us. And we are currently working hard to achieve this happiness. But we must not overdo it. It was like that in Hoffenheim, now against Leipzig it was also very dangerous.
… his penalty goal:
If I’m feeling good, and I am, then of course I’m happy to take the penalty. On the one hand I’m responsible, on the other hand I would of course like to score and help the team take the lead. I didn’t want to miss the penalty.
… the strong performance of keeper Alex Meyer, who only found out about his assignment shortly before the start of the game as a substitute for Gregor Kobel:
We can thank Alex. If you don’t play all the time and then come in just before the game, it’s not easy. He did it really well, brilliantly. He was a sure backing.
… the reasons for the current success:
We are very focused on the essentials. That means teamwork – I think we understood that we all have to work together to be successful in football and to deliver the results. It’s sometimes difficult for us to create our own chances to score, especially against really good opponents. We can still work on that and we are doing it. But we don’t get nervous and keep playing anyway. We’ve learned to embrace the games and still be there, even if they’re not going our way. What distinguishes us at the moment is that we are very capable of suffering. We work, everyone is there for the other.
