FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin: "If you take the 90 minutes as a whole, you can say they deserved to win. We did well in the first five minutes and then conceded from their first action. We'd said we needed to defend the space between the lines better, but you saw the individual quality there as well. The second goal was annoying because we didn't get the blocks in. We didn't let it unsettle us, though. Games likes these can sometimes go in a completely different direction. Two-nil is a dangerous scoreline because a goal puts you back in it. We wanted to keep things tight and be braver with every minute. Our goal came a bit too late perhaps, but we still had some opportunities. Leverkusen's nerves were jangling a bit, especially in the last 10 minutes, but they saw the game out. What I take from it is that my team never give up. It's sad we came away empty-handed. Our focus now turns to Bremen and we'll see to it that we take the points."

Jackson Irvine: "In the first half I felt we didn't have the level of aggression as a team that we had in the second. Our pressing was a lot better after the break despite the quality they have. And although Leverkusen had the odd chance, our play was much tidier and the performance much better. We were able to mount a lot of pressure. We stayed in the game, had lots of situations in the box and created several good chances. In the end we could have come away with more. We showed we can hold our own today, like we did against Leipzig and Dortmund. The next step is to get a better result. We have to believe more and get lots of things right tactically."

David Nemeth: " In the first half we gave the goals away too easily. We had problems because Leverkusen's deep-lying midfielders fell away to the side, which meant the centre was too open. We had problems with our positioning, but were better after the interval, and our tackling was better in the second half as well. You saw the quality Bayer Leverkusen have with their first goal. You simply have to try and keep them as small as possible."

Johannes Eggestein: "The second half showing would have merited a point. We played very, very well, especially after the break when we made a few tactical tweaks. We gradually had more possession of the ball and sensed Leverkusen were getting tired. We had a lot of chances at the end, including me. If I'd managed to hit it towards the far post, I could have scored. Unfortunately we couldn't find an equaliser. Overall, though, we can be proud of the performance."

Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen head coach): "It was a tough game for us after the win in Munich. In the first half we played well and were stable. Creating chances wasn't easy. Going 2-0 up after 20 minutes was good but the game wasn't over. We didn't have so much possession after the break but did have more chances to get a third goal. Anything can happen when you don't get it. St. Pauli pulled one back and put us under pressure. It was an important win in the end."

Photos: Witters