Ginter: "Liverpool are very, very strong"

The derby has left its mark. World Champion Matthias Ginter had to continually dab blood from his bottom lip after being elbowed in the face ten minutes from time. He was treated on the pitch to begin with before getting treated in the changing room after the match.

Amongst other things, Matthias Ginter gave Dortmund a short-lived 2-1 lead through a header exactly like in the 3-2 home win in the first half of the season against the same opposition. The BVB all-rounder spoke to DFB.de about starting the game on the right wing and moving to full-back after the break, his derby injury, his fifth Bundesliga goal and Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinal second-leg against Liverpool.

Question: Matthias Ginter, firstly, get well soon. What exactly happened to your lip?

Matthias Ginter: I got an elbow to the face. I don’t think there was any malice though, these things happen.

Question: Has your lip been stitched up?

Ginter: They treated the wound on the pitch but it wasn’t that effective as the wound was still open. In the changing room it was properly closed up with stitches.

Question: Does it hurt?

Ginter: No, not at all. The anaesthetic has worked really well.

Question: So, about the game. How do you think it went?

Ginter: We struggled in the first half and didn’t create many goalscoring opportunities. We lost the ball a lot and allowed them to counter. It is obviously never ideal when you have to keep on sprinting back 60 metres to cover. Throughout the match things improved but overall we didn’t play at the level we know we can reach. With that in mind, a draw was the right result.

Question: Let’s talk about the positives you can take from the game. First and foremost, your goal in the 56th minute. The ball took a strange path into the middle via a deflection. How was it from your point of view?

Ginter: Yeah it was deflected. I jumped behind Roman Neustädter and thought, 'I’m here in case', luckily it came through to me. It was a strange goal and not one of the best, but a goal is a goal.

Question: Would you say headers against Schalke are your speciality?

Ginter: (laughs) The assistant coach asked me before the match whether I knew when I last scored. Obviously, I was aware of the last time. We both then said: 'Hopefully it will continue today.'

Question: You haven’t been in the starting XI that often recently. Do you think you were able to show the coaches what you can do by being given the opportunity to start the match today?

Ginter: What do you mean not that often? We have had 48 matches this season and I haven’t counted but I think have started a decent number of those games. I got a run-out in the last Bundesliga fixture against Bremen and also against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League before the international break. It isn’t the case that I was unhappy. The coaches are obviously aware that I am very versatile and will give everything to help the team.

Question: Was the team shocked to find out there were eight changes to the team that played against Liverpool mid-week?

Ginter: Not really, we were aware that it was our 48th match of the season and not every player can play that number of matches. It is normal for the team to be rotated and changed. We seldom have the same starting XI two games in a row. That’s why it wasn’t really a shock for us.

Question: Liverpool also made eight changes to their side from Thursday night. What are you expecting to happen in the second leg next week at Anfield Road?

Ginter: Their league situation is a little bit different to ours. That’s not to say that they will go up a notch for the league and not give 100 percent in the Europa League. On the contrary, you could see in the first leg that Liverpool are a very, very strong side. It could go either way. I am obviously hoping it will end positively for us though.