Tuchel praises players´ sharpness

Thomas Tuchel praised the performance of his Borussia Dortmund players after they dominated Bayer Leverkusen for the entire 90 minutes of their 3-0 win at Signal Iduna Park.

Jonas Hofmann’s first-half goal gave Dortmund a deserved lead, but when Leverkusen threatened to force their way back into the contest, Dortmund shut their visitors out and added further efforts through Shinji Kagawa’s cool finish and a penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The win took Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga on goal difference, and extended their winning streak under Tuchel to 11 consecutive games in all competitions, just three days after a 2-1 win over Krasnodar in the Europa League.

Tuchel said: “We knew beforehand that we needed an absolute top performance. We have displayed a great sharpness.

“Our initial phase was very good. After 1-0, it was a more open game. With the last 30 minutes I am very satisfied.

“It was not an easy match, Bayer play very good football, but we were very concrete.”

Dortmund will attempt to further extend their record-breaking winning streak in forthcoming games against Hoffenheim and Darmstadt, and Tuchel added: “We are here also to inspire our audience. We succeed at present.”

Attacking midfielder Marco Reus had hoped to return from a toe injury to play against Leverkusen after missing the previous two games.

In the end he was an unused substitute, and Tuchel explained: “He has missed 17 days, during which time he could only ride a bike. You lose too much.

“The risk of a subsequent injury was too big.”