Disappointment with Sturm

Kiteishvili: “We had some good moments, but …”

The Sturm Graz players are disappointed after the defeat against Bruges.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

After the disappointing 1-0 defeat in the Champions League against Brugge, Sturm Graz are very disappointed. They had some good moments, said midfielder Otar Kiteishvili, but in the end the performance was not good enough. 

Niklas Geyrhofer (Sturm defender): "We didn't do badly, we defended well at the back, but we didn't really get in front of goal. We failed to press better, especially in the first half."

Otar Kiteishvili (attacking midfielder): "Two games, no points - of course that's a disappointment. But we're still a young team, we're gaining a lot of experience and hopefully we'll learn from our mistakes. We have to be more courageous and push forward vertically. They controlled the game, we didn't find the moments for our high pressing. We had a few good moments, but overall it wasn't enough."

Christian Ilzer (Sturm coach): "The team gave everything, but Brugge still deserved to win. They came into both halves better and forced us into our own half. We failed to win the ball and press. We didn't manage to keep Brugge's defense more occupied. We couldn't really get them off balance. We now have to build up energy and enthusiasm again very quickly."

Andreas Schicker (Sturm sporting director): "Brugge showed their qualities especially in possession, we didn't find the triggers for our pressing. There were phases where you could see what ideas we had today. But that was too rare. There wasn't enough emphasis, we deserved to lose. We know that you can't replace Wüthrich or Lavalee one-to-one. But the youngsters did a good job today."

Nicky Hayen (Bruges coach): "That was a game you should win if you have ambitions. If we had lost today, the Champions League would have been over for us. We wanted to have possession and stability. We played a very mature game and were very efficient. Of course we could have scored the 2:0. But we also defended well and gave our opponents few chances."