Jürgen, obviously we're not used to seeing your side not get a shot on target,
why didn't it click for you guys tonight?
Good question.
It’s a mix-up of a lot of things.
The opponent obviously defended well and aggressive, how they defend.
We didn’t use the specific things of their defending - this man-marking thing -
where you can move players around, open gaps and pass the ball there,
like really open gaps, crazy open gaps.
We didn’t use that tonight, we used it in Bergamo really well.
Then you only face the difficulties of this kind of man-marking system.
If you move right, if you pass in the right moment then it’s like an open door.
That’s football. It’s all about decision-making
and tonight the decision-making was obviously not so good.
And, yes, we made five changes; that was very important for us that we did that.
In the end, it didn’t work out.
That’s part of the deal, you never know before.
And, anyway, I would do it again.
That was the reason. Five changes means no real rhythm.
The first half was not a good game at all, they were not good as well.
I don’t want to blame them but it was just not a good game.
We spoke about it, so now we can do it maybe [in the second half].
It didn’t look like it, that’s why we changed kind of early.
Unfortunately, like a second before we could change they scored a goal, the first one,
in a space which we knew they'd try to use.
We couldn’t defend it in that moment, so they score the first one
and then the second one in a similar manner.
And we didn’t create, so that’s it.
We had good, better football moments then, but not good enough.
If you don’t have a shot on target, that’s never a good sign.
Despite the disappointment though, how would you have felt
if you'd been told at the start of the campaign,
"Beat Anfield at Ajax and you will qualify
"for the knockout phase of the Champions League?"
If I would think like this, it would be great. But it’s tricky.
It sounds easy: ‘Beat Ajax.’
With all the challenges we face in this country on top of the normal challenges already,
my concern and what I think about in the moment is not Ajax, sorry.
We go in a few hours to Brighton and play there.
That’s the first thing we have to think about and when this game is over,
then we start thinking about Ajax.
Jürgen, as well, obviously there was a poignant moment before the game,
in memory of Diego Maradona,
I just wanted to get your reaction to the sad passing of a football icon.
100 per cent. I had the honour to meet him once.
As a 53-year-old man, loving football as long as I can remember,
he is one of the greatest ever.
Was one of the greatest ever. I saw not so long ago the documentary,
which I think is exceptional, to be honest.
You could see there was Diego, which was an unbelievable football player.
And there was Maradona, who struggled slightly with all the things around.
When you are a young person and the people go crazy wherever you go, that’s not so easy.
He had his fights with that, 100 per cent.
But I will miss Diego and Maradona because he was just…
What a footballer he was, unbelievable.
Hi, Jürgen, just going back to the Diego news,
can you just talk us through the contribution
an icon of football like him has made to the sport?
He showed all of us what can be possible.
We all struggle with our limits obviously -
technique, endurance, attitude, whatever.
And he showed us that you don't have to the tallest,
you don't have to be the most busy person in training,
you don't have to always be in time.
It's possible that you can still be the best player in the world,
He loved this game so much,
you could see that in each second when you watched him playing,
even his warming up was special.
There was Pele, for German people it was [Franz] Beckenbauer,
I don’t know who exactly it was for England,
but we all had these absolute heroes
who would make football look completely easy;
it looked like there was no effort necessary.
But they trained a lot and they were just skilled,
they understood the game on a completely different level -
and that’s what Maradona did as well.
He understood the game on a different level
and he knew what other players would do before they knew what they would do.
So, that made him really special and, of course,
he pushed football onto a different level, clearly.
JOURNALIST ASKS QUESTION IN ITALIAN
Oh, rhythm, we didn’t have rhythm tonight.
We made five changes and that obviously gives you a few problems with rhythm,
but we usually get through a game.
Atalanta were good - Atalanta fought, Atalanta defended well,
that’s why we didn’t have a shot on target.
My defence was completely fine apart from two situations, that’s how it is.
Atalanta did do well in these moments and we have to admit [that].
It's a deserved defeat, I have said that a couple of times.
It doesn’t sound nice but it’s the truth, so congratulations to Atalanta.
I know there are probably not many positives to take out of tonight,
but the performance of Rhys Williams,
you must be pleased he's getting this experience at this level.
The kids did really well, all of them.
Neco did well, first half he defended very often.
Not on his own, but he was really aggressive in these situations
and could sort the situations.
It's a tough task for the kids; we ask them to show up in the Champions League
and play their best football and people sit there - "Oh, he’s good, he’s not that good…"
and stuff like this.
They all did well: Rhys did well, Neco did well and Curtis played again like a 26/27-year-old.
They didn’t get tired during the game, which is helpful.
They did really well, the kids were really good.