Sahin proud of Dortmund after Klassiker draw
Borussia Dortmund could not hold on to a lead against Bayern Munich, but Nuri Sahin was nevertheless delighted with his team's efforts.
Nuri Sahin could not ask for any more from his Borussia Dortmund side after they drew 1-1 with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Jamal Musiala scored in the 85th minute on Saturday to quash Dortmund's hopes of picking up the three points against their fierce rivals.
Dortmund went ahead through Jamie Gittens' 27th-minute goal at Signal Iduna Park, with that effort one of just two shots on target from the hosts.
And though they could not hold on, Sahin was full of pride after a resilient display against the Bundesliga's best.
As quoted by the Bundesliga's official website, Sahin said: "I just told my team that I'm proud of them, but of course, we just drew, and our mindset is that we want to win those matches.
"We played against a very tough opponent, and we suffered in moments, but it was clear that we would have to suffer in moments against Bayern.
"We did a good job so, although in the end, you can talk about a deserved draw for both sides, it hurts."
Gittens has been directly involved in 11 goals (eight goals, three assists) in his 19 games this season, and the attacker felt Dortmund had little more to give.
"Honestly I think we did as much as we could," he said.
"We could have put away some of our chances in the first half and second half, but we defended well the whole game. Bayern is always a tough game, so to stop their players is always really hard, but we tried."
It was a sentiment that was echoed by his team-mate Felix Nmecha, who said: "We gave everything to try and see out the win.
"They had quite a few chances at the end, which we defended most of them very well, but then at the end it went in. It's bitter, but we have to take this result."