FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin: “We were very energised from the off today, especially in the first 20 minutes, when we exerted lots of pressure. We than ran out of steam a bit and failed to find the right line in the back four. Conceding from a set piece was hard to stomach. It’s even harder to take when you’ve not given much away and then go behind like that. At half-time we talked about the need to be braver in defending forward. We then had better control in the second half and deserved to get the equaliser. All things considered, it was a really good performance and we can be very satisfied with the point.”

Eric Smith: “The first 20 minutes went incredibly well for us but we tired a bit after that. We struggled when Leverkusen found their pressing pattern but eventually managed to stress and hurt them again. It was an incredible performance. We’re missing two of our best players in Karol Mets and Jackson Irvine and yet we still managed to put in a performance like that. We showed character and the lads who came on were superb.”

Carlo Boukhalfa: “It feels great to have taken a point against opposition of that calibre. The fans were amazing today, which was really motivating. It’s normal for Leverkusen to create chances with the quality they have. They’re very streetwise, as we saw today, but we coped well. We were very energised and showed morale to come back after going behind. I have to take my hat off to the lads who played today for the way they performed. It was a special game for me. I was delighted to play and score again after such a long time out of the first team. We’ve seen it all in football, so we aren’t safe yet. We’ll keep going.”

Hauke Wahl: “We did a lot of things right today. We started well and let Leverkusen know it was going to be tough for them here. In the last 20 minutes before the break we let the gaps get a bit too big and gave Leverkusen a couple of chances. The set piece for their goal was executed perfectly, of course. You saw the individual quality they have there. In the second half we showed what we’re capable of. Tactically, we were excellent. We kept a slightly higher line at the back, which meant the gaps weren’t so big. It felt like we had an exceptional tackle success rate. We showed great tenacity and kept finding solutions on the ball. One key feature of our game is that we’re good at counterpressing and have a good rest defence. If we lose the ball, we have to be on it right away and put the tackles in. That helped us again. We’ve sent out a message to the rest of the league, i.e. that we never give up and are a force to be reckoned with. We’re on 30 points now but we know we still have one or two steps left to take.”

Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen head coach): “It was a high-intensity game. We didn’t start well in the first 15 minutes but we responded well after that and had more pace and control and got the goal. In the second half St. Pauli pressed a bit more and we couldn’t find the final ball to get a second goal. We allowed them more corners and free-kicks and conceded the equaliser. In the end it’s not enough for us.”

Photos: FC St. Pauli / Witters