Unfortunate own goal and clinical Schalke

Anthony Ujah & Co suffered defeat on the opening day of the season. (photo: nph)
First Team
Saturday, 15.08.2015 / 20:13

It wasn't the start that Werder had hoped for. Despite playing well for large spells of the game, Bartels, Junuzovic & Co. succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in the opening game of...

It wasn't the start that Werder had hoped for. Despite playing well for large spells of the game, Bartels, Junuzovic & Co. succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in the opening game of the 2015/16 Bundesliga.

WERDER.DE have collected all the important reaction from the match.

On the 3-0 defeat:

Viktor Skripnik: "Unfortunately all our good preparation has been tarnished by the result, but in the end it was a deserved victory for Schalke. It's a tough league and mistakes will be punished. The own goal was frustrating and it threw our plan out the window. We reacted well, but didn't make the most of our chances and were punished for it."

Thomas Eichin: "The first game is always difficult. It was a strange encounter. We matched a tough opponent for large spells, but lacked the final punch in front of goal. Especially in the second half, we played attractive football. We had a lot of possession, but Schalke were clever about their play and were much more effective with their chances. They showed their quality. This game is by no means an indication for the season. I hope we can bounce back."n Berlin

Viktor Skripnik will analyse Werder's mistakes ahead of Hertha BSC next week. (photo: nph)

Zlatko Junuzovic: "The result doesn't reflect the match, in my opinion. It wasn't our best game, but also not our worst. Maybe we pushed too hard for an equaliser at the start of the second half. Schalke can always find a goal and we have to now analyse our mistakes, keep working and keep our heads up ahead of our next game against Hertha BSC. Right now, we are disappointed, especially to lose at home against our home crowd."

Assani Lukimya: "Of course we are disappointed. We played well in the first half and then came the frustrating own goal. We had a good spell in the second half, where we could have found an equaliser, but Schalke showed their individual class and deserved the win. The match showed us how far we behind we are some teams. In Berlin we will do everything we can to get our first win of the season."

Felix Wiedwald: "The first goal was extremely unlucky. On a normal day we'd be going in at half time 0-0. In the second half we weren't too bad, and were desperate for the equaliser, but Schalke punished us on the break. They were clinical in front of goal and in the end they deserved to win. We knew right from the start that it would not be easy. But we still had good spells that we'd like to build on in our game in Berlin. For me personally, it was a good experience to get such a nice reception from the Werder fans, despite the scoreline obviously not being the best debut result.

Junuzovic tries in vain to pull a goal back with a trademark free-kick. (photo: nph)

Thoughts on Theodor Gebre Selassie's own goal:

Viktor Skripnik: "Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about own goals like this one. Things like this just happen in football. It was a cruel moment, and Theo is gutted, but life goes on."

Zlatko Junuzovic: "Of course it's understandable that Theo will be kicking himself about the incident - I'd be doing so, too. But no one in the team blames him, it could have happened to anyone. He was running at high speed, and had to decide quickly whether to clear the ball or pass it back. Own goals like this happen. Theo's experienced enough to shake this off quickly and move on."

Thoughts on new signing Aron Jóhannsson's Bundesliga debut.

Thomas Eichin: "Aron is not in sync with our style of play yet. He still has to get used to the passes and movements of our team. We will continue to integrate him into the team in the coming week, and then I'm sure he'll take us further."

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