Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Deutsche Bank Park after our 2-0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in MD8 of the UEFA Champions League, securing our place in the Round of 16 in March.
Here's what he had to say...
Job done, a professional performance - what was the most pleasing aspect of it for you?
Thomas: "I think, first of all, very happy for the performance. I think the players showed great character, their mentality. We basically had 12 available players for Borussia Dortmund and in this game and in both games, the players stepped up. In this game, we were more or less in control from the beginning to the end of the game. I think that's a big thing. I need to say, we've seen some of the results in the Champions League tonight. We've seen some of the results throughout the league phase. There's no easy games. So, we're sitting here with 17 points, ending, finishing fourth in the group stage, six clean sheets - I think it's very impressive, but throughout the game today, we were good in the high pressure. I think we looked strong when we defended low, I'm very happy how we progressed with the ball and how we got quick up the pitch. We're still working on creating, but I think we created quite a lot today, which I'm very pleased with. So, yeah, very, very happy with that. Then, of course, the fans I think were fantastic, very happy, so many of them travelling in numbers and the support throughout the game."
On a personal note, this is your first time ever managing the Champions League, you've taken a side through in fourth place, the likes of Real Madrid, Inter and PSG have to go into the play-off round now. Can you take some personal pride in that?
Thomas: "Yeah, of course I'm happy, but it's not about me. I'm very happy that the staff, the players, everyone, how we prepared the team for these games in general, I think is very positive. We need to look forward to the Round of 16, which is hugely important that you are qualified, for everything, but also gives us some time between games to train. I also think, let's say, the 3-4-3 also looked good in the last three games."
Randal Kolo Muani - another goal against a former club. How do you get him playing like that week in, week out in the Premier League?
Thomas: "First of all, I was very happy that he scored the goal. I think, actually, he looked like a threat. He almost got an assist with the first one that was disallowed. He was very involved in that, great action. I think he has had great actions throughout the game. So, I'm very happy that he got the goal and I said to him, please start scoring against others than your former clubs, that would be nice! We know when you come to a new club, a new country, it's never straight forward and never in the Premier League. I hope this will give him some confidence."
How much does Dominic Solanke's goal back up your decision to bring him back into the (UCL) squad?
Thomas: "Yeah, I'm so happy not only to have him in the Champions League squad, but also it was a tough decision. It was a big game tonight and I wanted to start Dom, but we need to take clever decisions like we've done throughout, because we have been pushing him to the limit. So, we know every sign, every experience says that it was the right thing not to start him. I'm happy that it turned out to be a very good decision."
Given the context and what it means, where do you rate that performance in terms of the season? It must be one of the best?
Thomas: "Yeah, you say the context, everything, I think it was overall a good performance. I think it was actually, as you say, a quite complete performance - how we defended in high pressure, how we defended in low pressure, how we controlled the ball, the chances we created, all that I think looked very good."
With Kolo Muani and what happened yesterday, was there any chance of him not coming in? Had circumstances been different, if you had more players, might you have not brought him out here because of the accident?
Thomas: "No, he was ready. Of course, if there was any doubt that he couldn't play, then we wouldn't have done it. He was fine and no physical aspect or mental aspect from the accident."
There's five English teams in the top eight - what does that say about the Premier League? That is quite a dominant position...
Thomas: "I haven't checked that, but that is dominant. I think we've all said for a few years that the Premier League is the best league in the world, and I think that's another sign of it, no doubt about that."