FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin: "We're not happy at all. It was a game low on chances between two teams who stayed solid and defended well. We dealt with the long balls better with every minute. In the second half there were lots of tackles in midfield and few chances at either end. We had the chance for Jackson Irvine where he headed just wide. At the other end Freiburg had a dangerous free-kick through Vincenzo Grifo. The game was drifting to a close but then there was a spot of pinball in the red zone outside the box where we didn’t clear our lines properly. The ball got through and we got in the way of the shot, only to see it go over Niko and we're a goal down. A point would have been deserved. It hurts but won't knock us out of our stride. We have to stay positive and focus on what's to come. Freiburg are a top side who are not near the top for nothing. And with the injury to James Sands it was a day to forget."

Jackson Irvine: "It was a typical game for us. Both teams defended very well and were unable to create many chances. We were very solid at the back. In the first half the long balls almost took us by surprise, but we dealt with them much better in the second. Not a lot happened after the penalty. I had a big chance from a set piece and in the end it was a close encounter that didn't go our way."

Hauke Wahl: "We gave very little away overall. Freiburg tried to get in behind our backline again, but didn't manage it very often. On the ball we never really got going, so we're obviously going to have to come up with better answers there. The task now is to go over the game and learn the lessons for the next one. Our aim is to keep developing as a team."

Eric Smith: "Their goal was a deflection that left Niko no chance. It was very unlucky. We didn't create a great deal all in all, but neither did Freiburg. They defended well and we struggled as a result. It had goalless draw written all over it, but maybe Freiburg earned their luck a bit more than we did in the closing stages. We have to analyse the game and try to become even more flexible in order to come up with answers."

Nikola Vasilj: "Conceding a goal like that late on is really annoying. We defended very all in all, so it hurts to come away empty-handed. I always analyse penalties, and I thought he'd shoot down the middle. I'm happy to have saved the penalty, but it's not relevant at this time because we lost. Today wasn't our best day overall. We made some individual errors and gave the ball away too easily sometimes, and up front we didn't pose enough of a threat. We have to keep working hard and we get another chance next week."

Johannes Eggestein: "It was hard to take for us at the end. The ball took a deflection and we were very unlucky to see it go in. We're all very disappointed. A draw would have been OK even though Freiburg had the better chances. They pushed forward but I never had the feeling they had the right solutions. We had no answers on the ball today. We played too many backpasses, which made Freiburg stronger. We didn’t get in behind their defence very much. We've been much better in that respect in recent weeks. It was our worst performance in attacking terms and it's very disappointing in the end because a point was there for the taking."

Julian Schuster (SC Freiburg head coach): "Huge compliments to the team. It was a very mature performance against a very disciplined team with lots of quality. It isn't easy to play and defend against them. We put into practice what we set out to do. An early goal through Ritsu Doan would have done us good. As it was, we had to wait for the spaces to open up. We stuck at it. The team responded sensationally well to the setbacks in the form of the missed chances. Our attitude and the way we respond are very important to me."

Photos: Witters