Kovac: “We played our way to those first goals beautifully” | OneFootball

“We saw some great plays. Of course, it’s great when two 18-year-olds – Inacio and Karetsas – along with 19-year-old Gadou score the goals. But it only works if the experienced players around them also deliver. And that’s exactly what they did. When I think of Ramy, Nmecha, and Silva, who really pushed the pace up front. Alex Meyer exuded an incredible calm. That allows the young players to shine alongside them and make their own highlights. I was particularly impressed by how alert Kosta was after just five days of training, how he got involved in the game, and how confident on the ball and selfless he was.”

Niko Kovac: “The result wasn’t the main focus – that’s been the case for the past few weeks. It’s about us seeing certain things, and today we saw a lot of good things. Sure, there are still a few things to correct, but we’ve made progress. In the first half, we played our way to the first two goals beautifully – I liked that. Kosta still needs time. He played 45 minutes today – that’s part of his training regimen. We can see that he’s a really good football player. That’s what every team needs. Filippo also had a really good game today. Both defenders cleared the ball very well – Joane as well as Filippo.”

Joane Gadou: “I’m really happy about my first goal for BVB. The lads were really happy for me. I’m a defender and I don’t always score goals. So it’s always nice for a defender to score a goal. We played well today. Of course, we can always improve, but we’re on the right track.”Recorded by Christina Reinke