Sami Hyypia praised his Bayer Leverkusen side’s character for managing to steal three points at the death against Real Sociedad.
The Bundesliga outfit had seen a bright first-half performance against La Real pegged back in the second half, with Carlos Vela’s rebound from a missed penalty cancelling out Simon Rolfes’ opener.
However, a last-minute free-kick from substitute Jens Hegeler saw the Germans take the 2-1 win on Wednesday evening.
“We played well in the opening phase of the match. We created gaps that we could play into and had a few situations where we could have scored,” stated Hyypia afterwards.
“We knew Real Sociedad are a team that like to execute counterattacks and that have a certain quality in doing so, but we kept our balance in the first half. Obviously the timing of our [first] goal was perfect, just before half-time.
“We talked at half-time about the things we needed to improve. Sociedad were a bit more aggressive in the second period and our game wasn't at the same level as in the first.
“I also had the feeling we were a bit tired throughout the second half.
“We didn't keep possession as well. We were pushed back into defence and our balance wasn't there any more. Sociedad had a lot of counterattacking opportunities and certainly had chances to score a second goal.
“At the end we had a free-kick and got the winner from it. It's fantastic and I'm very happy that we managed to secure three very important points. We showed real character towards the end.”