“I grew up with FC and stood on the terraces myself when I was young; I’ve been a fan since I can remember. The fact that my words hurt a large proportion of our fans and they found it offensive is something that I can completely understand. Therefore, I want to thank the fans, especially those who were there yesterday, and I deeply apologise,” said Dominick Drexler.
“We are all aware of the importance of the derby - and we were all very pleased with the support as we left. This is evidenced by the fact that many of us took videos that we sent to family and friends. Drex's statement, which was sent unnoticed, was wrong. We can all understand that this annoyed our fans. But mistakes happen - to all of us, on and off the pitch. In such situations, it is all the more important to stand together as a team - and work through it behind closed doors. We will do that in the coming week and also look for a personal conversation with the fans. Today, we concentrate fully on Gladbach. We want to play a really good game and fight passionately,” the FC players said.