Post-match interviews following Werder’s DFB-Pokal defeat

Ilia Gruev: “That was a bad performance from us. You can’t play like that, particularly in the cup since you only get one chance. We actually played well after going 2-0 down and came back into the game. Then we had that disallowed goal – I have no idea why it was ruled out.”

Leonardo Bittencourt: “The opening 45 minutes is not what we want to stand for at Werder. That was really bad. After that, we came back and even went 3-2 ahead, even though it was ruled out for whatever reason. Then it was decided by the penalty shoot-out. One side has to win and the other has to lose. I botched my penalty. I can only apologize to the team. But that’s how things go. Even if it’s a bitter pill to swallow today, it was clear that Paderborn deserve to be where there are in the league. They’re a really uncomfortable team to play against. They put in some really good balls and have quality players in their ranks. But this is the cup. You have to be at your best from the first minute.”

Niclas Füllkrug: “I’m really disappointed, particularly with how we played in the first 35 minutes. There were a few heads held low in the dressing room. There wasn’t that improvement that we wanted following the Mainz game. It’s a real shame, but we now have to go and do better against Freiburg.”

Ole Werner: “We didn’t manage to play any clean passes at all in the first half. We lost the ball lots and allowed them to counterattack. We defended poorly as well for both the goals. Both goals came from a breakdown of communication in the last chain of defence. All in all, it was a very poor performance from us for the first 55 minutes. After that, we improved, especially from the substitutes that came on. Nevertheless, we didn’t set the world alight – we played to the grittiness of the cup and deserved to come back into the game.”

Ilia Gruev: “The first thing I will say is: hats off to him for the way he came into the game. He scored immediately, encouraged the team, got the fans behind us and was extremely active throughout. The fact it was him to miss the penalty sucks, but it can happen to anybody.”

Ole Werner: “That’s football, these things happen. He was a huge reason why we got back into the game. He brought a breath of fresh air to the game when he came on, not only because he scored the goal, but because he got the team going. We were lacking that energy before he came on.”