Roger Schmidt saw his team take a giant step toward the next preliminary round of the Champions League after a 5-1 win over Galatasaray SK. The Head Coach is in good spirits about his team's performance.
Energy from the fans
"It was a good night for us. It was the first league game with fans in a year and a half so we wanted to show them good play. The energy from the fans came through in the football. We were consistently sharp, active and gave away few chances. The efficiency we lacked last season we had now." The Head Coach was proud of the style of play the selection has developed. Galatasaray SK played with a different formation than expected, but according to Schmidt that was not a problem: "If we focus on our own style it is not important how the opponent plays."
Pressing
According to Zahavi, his first goal was not due to a blunder by goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, but to the high pressure of the game. "It's the result of training a lot on putting pressure. We have to put that into practice," the striker said. For Schmidt, the game was the highlight of the evening: "It was a technically good game from the players. We developed as a team and it is clear that we have to keep developing. It's hard to pick a favorite goal, but the second and third showed the quality of our tactics. In the second one we make a good transition after winning the ball and the third one had a great build-up. That's great to see as a coach."