Maier: "Our quality shone through"
Reaction from the win in Lohne
First Team
31.07.2022, 18:48
FC Augsburg lived up to their favourites tag in the first round of the DFB-Pokal as they won 4-0 at Regionalliga side Blau-Weiß Lohne. We have collected the reactions of the players and head coach Enrico Maaßen after the game.
Arne Maier: "Lohne made it tough for us, particularly in the first half. They marked us man to man and were always tight to us. You need to remain patient in a situation like that. Our quality shone through in the end. It was a good performance overall by the team and we can build on this in the coming weeks.”
Elvis Rexhbecaj: “It’s obvious that not everything will be perfect after just a few days with the team. This game can give us some real positives though. We didn’t use the space well in the first half and were too slow on the ball. We stepped up the tempo in the second half and took advantage of this space. Freiburg will be a different kettle of fish in the Bundesliga next week, but we’ll give our all and try to get all three points.”
Florian Niederlechner: “BW Lohne did really well in the first half. We struggled, although we should have scored one or two goals. That may have made things a lot easier then. The second half, on the other hand, was really positive and we deserved to win.”
Enrico Maaßen: “This game was all about getting through to the next round and we did just that. We know we can do better than we did in the first half. Lohne’s tactic of man marking us all over the pitch was really effective. We created chances better after the break and got the goals. This game will give us some positives for the start of the Bundesliga. Elvis Rexhbecaj and Ermedin Demirovic got important minutes, Florian Niederlechner and Fredrik Jensen did really well from the bench and youngsters Aaron Zehnter and Maurice Malone got game time too. Maurice was in the right place to score. I’m glad he could finish off pre-season with a goal.”
Henning Rießelmann: “We gave FC Augsburg a real game today. We wanted to make their lives difficult by man marking them. That worked really well in the first half. You could see we were a bit tired in the second half after their first goal. I’m so proud, both of the team and of the whole club for what we’ve achieved together here. It just makes you want more of this.”
