Eugen Polanski: “We take many small steps”

Eugen Polanski’s Bundesliga debut was a promising draw away at Bayer Leverkusen. However, the former midfielder faced a reality check the following week with half a dozen goals conceded in 50 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt. Hence, they had to improve on their defensive performance when Freiburg came to town.

“In my opinion, we defended well and allowed very little,” said Polanski after the goalless draw. Putting aside a couple of penalty-kick shouts, Freiburg’s best chance came from a direct free-kick. 

“In possession, we had decent phases," said the former midfielder who gets the full backing from Gladbach's new bosses. "We had one or two chances to take the lead in the first half. The second half was overall balanced, even if Freiburg might have had the better chances.

“Overall, I'm happy with the way we've performed. We can and will build on this. What is crucial is that we do not take one big step, but many small ones. We have to fight our way out of such a situation together.”

Gladbach’s captain Rocco Reitz shared the sentiment in the post-match interview. “We can be partly satisfied,” said the midfielder. “With the work against the ball, we did significantly better than last weekend. We were tactically disciplined. All in all, we can live with the draw.”