“That’s what you want from European football”

Niko Bungert: “That’s what you want from European football. It was a heated atmosphere, and you could sense everywhere that this was something special tonight. The team performance still has room for improvement, but we got the job done in the end. We managed to get into the box more often in the second half and created some dangerous situations. In the end, it still took a penalty to score. You could feel the relief on the bench as well – everyone was on their feet and fully invested in those last ten minutes. That says a lot about how important this win was for us.”

Danny da Costa: “At the end of the day we won – and that’s the most important thing, to make a good start to the league phase. We don’t get these kinds of matches every year as Mainz. It’s not an everyday thing, no matter what the competition is called. I think it’s fantastic that so many fans made the journey. It’s not exactly the easiest trip to get here. You already saw in Trondheim how much it means to us, so I’m really glad so many came along – and that we were able to reward them with a win. As a defender, I’m also pleased that we finally kept a clean sheet. That hadn’t happened yet this season. We were a bit too slow at times on the ball. We had plenty of time and chances to play things more cleanly, to make our opportunities bigger, but we didn’t take advantage. That’s why we had to work so hard and sweat it out much longer than we would have liked.”

Nadiem Amiri: “Tonight was an improvement compared to Dortmund. We didn’t allow much and we were dominant on the ball. Not everything came off, but I was still pleased with the first half. We really should have taken the lead with the chances for Arnaud and Phillipp. We’re still missing that final punch in front of goal. But overall, we dominated, barely gave anything away, and in the second half we stepped it up again. I always had the feeling after the break that we would score, I was sure we’d go home with the win. I thanked the fans afterwards for their support – it’s not something you take for granted that so many come along on a Thursday night and create an atmosphere like that.”

Stefan Bell: “That was an extremely intense game against a good opponent. They wanted to play football, had the confidence to build out from the back, and started well – it was very even in the opening stages. We had more possession of course, and hit the post in the first half. It became a game of patience. We had to stay alert the whole time because they always looked dangerous on the counter. We improved in the second half and applied more pressure. You could see we maybe had a bit more in the tank physically and became more solid. We made it 1-0 in probably our best spell of the game. After that, I felt they didn’t really have the power to come back at us. They tried long balls, but those didn’t cause us problems. I thought we defended well – Danny is tireless, and Kacper did very well too. Even at his young age, he’s reliable and strong in the tackle, and he showed it tonight. It was a lot of fun, even when we arrived at the stadium. An hour and a half before kick-off, the whole place was still empty – except our section, which was already full. That was something really special.”