Could have been 2-0 down at half time, what did it take to get back into the match and what does it say about your players?
I think we were lucky that it did not take too much to come back and stay in the match because we were lucky enough to not be 2-0 down.
It was not a tactical problem, it was not a big drama out there in the first half, it wasn’t just the last three or four minutes. We had an individual situation with Andreas [Christensen] where he slipped and unfortunately got a bit injured and we conceded a goal.
Unfortunately it can happen, it should not happen but it can at any time.
Then suddenly we were one man down and it was in this moment when we had one player less we lost a bit of the structure and conceded a very, very harsh decision. I am very happy Mendy kept us in the game.
Could we have lost the game in these four minutes? Yes. Did we deserve to lose it in these four minutes? No. For me, it was a clear 0-0 draw at half time.
It was a tactical match and you could see, well I had the feeling that we were a bit tired, a bit slow in decision making, a bit too rushed in decisions, rushed into our attacks, we lost the ball too early, but there was no big problem.
At half time we said to ourselves “let’s continue like it is 0-0, don’t lose our heads now because of the last three minutes, take it as a 0-0 and from there we go.”
They stepped up and tried to play with courage, to have more possession in their half and this is what they did.
The momentum changed completely with the goal. I could feel it, the momentum was growing, the confidence was growing and we were adding more and more quality and pressure.
We never stopped attacking, I am very aware and I will never deny that you need a little bit of luck in any match in football and we had it in the second half. It is a huge win, big reaction and a fantastic team performance in the second half. It is what it is.
We had a big away game after a big win over Real Madrid which had a huge impact, also mentally, but that was a huge reaction from the boys.
A significant result ahead of the Champions League final?
Yes, it’s the best to have the consecutive good performances that lead to good results. The feeling in the dressing room is that the guys are super tired.
Everybody who was out there gave every drop of intensity and work rate. This is what you need to feel it, really feel the strong bond and strengthen your bond. These experiences, these wins, these big games and you need to be a bit lucky, like I said, this is nothing to be ashamed of.
Especially because the players do everything they can to force luck on our side. This is what it is and now we catch the momentum and we have another big win, from there on, it increases our self-confidence in a healthy way. Everyone knows we have to restart on Wednesday.
Had a penalty go against you but was Kurt Zouma lucky not to concede another in the second half?
I only saw it live and I was in fear that he will maybe give it, but I found our first one a 50-50 situation. If he gives it live because it’s his impression, okay maybe it’s not worth overturning it from VAR. If he wouldn’t whistle it live in his first impression I think it also wouldn’t be worth overruling from VAR so it was a pretty tough one.
Of course we felt a bit like the momentum was completely against us because we were one man down actually from an injured player, had no time to do the change and suddenly this whole game can slip through your fingers.
So the second one I didn’t see, I just heard that it was also lucky for Raheem Sterling to be on the field because he had a huge foul against Timo Werner.
You need these things. I am not here to talk about, I have no reason to talk bad about the referee, they are doing their best and this is how it is. I absolutely can admit you need a bit of luck, also with offside decisions and with decisions like this. This will never change.