Interview

'We need to be more intelligent and efficient'

Shkodran Mustafi headed home his first goal since February but it wasn't enough to secure three points against Vitoria on Wednesday. 

Our German centre back's towering finish looked to have won the game late on in Guimaraes, but Bruno Duarte's stoppage-time equaliser saw the hosts rescue a point at Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

Mustafi spoke to the media after the game. This is what he said:

on the performance...

I think we had a lot of possession and we controlled the game, but then we let them come back at us on the counter-attack through some sloppy passing. In the second half, we came out better, had better passing and were playing forward a lot more. I think we need to stay calmer in the final third to finish our chances off. We managed to not concede before we scored, but then unfortunately they got an equaliser. We could have dealt with it better but in the end we have to accept the draw. 

on Vitoria...

In this competition you have to take everything seriously. As we said, they were very good when we played at home and today they were good too. They're in the Europa League for a reason and that's why you have to respect every opponent, and play at your best to try to win. 

on whether it's disappointing...

I would love for them to not have scored in the 90th minute, but when you score a goal and still have time to play against a team like the one we played, they throw everything up front. Sometimes it's not organised any more, they throw a lot of bodies in the box, they keep crossing. We could have done better but in the end we have to accept it and take the point with us. 

on whether we could have prevented the equaliser...

Yeah I think we could have dealt a little better with it instead of letting them cross into the box again. In the end, you have to accept it, move forward and take the positive things into the next game. 

on not being able to create many chances...

You have to say they're a good side. They're here for a reason and that's because they have quality. They're compact and they didn't allow us to get our rhythm. We didn't play the first half as we wanted and in the second half we were better with our rhythm and passing, but no we just need to stay calm. Everyone wants to show a lot and give everything but sometimes when you are overly motivated, it's difficult to play your game. We just need to play our game, stay calm and then in the final third try to be a bit more intelligent and efficient in our passing.

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