“I haven’t experienced an atmosphere like today for a long time”

Jonny Burkardt: “It’s a great feeling and I’m really happy about the three points because it’s the first time I’ve won with the team this season. Nadiem agreed to let me take the penalty and told me: “put it in.” We’ve scored a few recently – I hope the next few go in too. It was really something special to be able to celebrate with the fans at the end of the game and see just what it meant to them. Going into the international break with this three points under our belts is very liberating. But we’re not out of the woods yet. We’ll be fully focused on Leipzig in two weeks, and then on Darmstadt.”

Christian Heidel: “Everyone knows how important today was. With just eight games to go now, it was a must-win game. Sometimes it’s easier to be in the chasing pack. We’re competing with Köln and Darmstadt at the moment. Maybe someone else will get involved in that fight. We’ve improved our situation a bit, but not by a lot. I haven’t experienced an atmosphere like this in a long time – we have nothing to celebrate yet, but we’re back in the mix. It was a strange game at the beginning, with the ball flying around the pitch. That’s how it is in a relegation battle, and it wasn’t easy. By the second half, our fans and the team really found their way into the game. To be able to experience a game like this after the defeat last week isn’t something to be taken for granted. I think we’ve found the rhythm we need. We need to keep it up until the final day of the season.”

Andreas Hanche-Olsen: “It was a tough game. We knew what to expect from Bochum. It was a very physical game, but the penalty opened the door for us. We hadn’t managed to get a foothold up to that point – they played a lot of long balls and we just had to work hard. We had more chances after the break, but the main thing is that we’ve taken home the three points.”

Martin Schmidt: “We haven’t had a 2-0 win like that for a long time. In the first 40 minutes you could really see what a weight we were carrying on our shoulders. We lacked confidence and courage as well. After the break we were on fire, found space in behind their defence and had chances. We needed two set-pieces today, but that’s part and parcel of the game. Bochum’s game plan today was built on playing long balls and looking to win the knock downs. The game didn’t have much flow to it. But we’d found ways to play around them by half time and focused on playing the ball on the ground. By the end of the game we’d got the better of our opponents and deserved to win.”