Ginter lost for words after Revierderby win

Borussia Dortmund defender Matthias Ginter struggled to put the joy of his side’s thrilling Revierderby win over Schalke into words.

The 21-year-old played a key role in the 3-2 triumph, providing the assist for Shinji Kagawa to open the scoring and then heading the second himself before in-form striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added the third.

And although Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s brace kept the visitors very much in the contest at Signal Iduna Park, it was the hosts who held on to keep the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

“We had some huge chances to make it 4-1 and 4-2,” said Ginter.

“We’re pleased we managed to win, regardless. It’s hard to describe how good it feels to celebrate this with the fans and win at home. 

“You sort of have to experience it, it’s indescribable how good it feels to score and we’re delighted to be able to give the fans a victory. 

“We tried to build from the back early on, but gave the ball away too much, but after half-an-hour, we managed to get into the swing of things.”

Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel also felt that his players should have made the game safe long before the end, but he was still understandably delighted with what was a seventh successive win in all competitions.

“We had a lot of chances to kill the game off,” he said. “I had the feeling from the start that we wouldn’t be able to play with the freedom with which we have been playing recently. 

“We wanted to stay calm and patient to do our job. We tried not to let the fantastic atmosphere affect us. We knew it would be hard work, but my boys did very, very well.”  

Tuchel’s opposite number, Andre Breitenreiter, meanwhile, was quick to praise the character his side showed to twice force their way back into the contest and come close to snatching a point in the latter stages.

“I’m pleased with my side’s performance,” he said.

“Both teams were excellent and there were several outstanding individual performances. We just conceded at the wrong moments. They used their chances better than us.”