It wasn’t to be! Werder Bremen gave Bayer Leverkusen a real cup fight, took an early 2-0 lead, continued to create chances and pushed the team currently second in the Bundesliga all the way. The quarterfinal was however to be Werder’s final stop in this season’s DFB Pokal, after Leverkusen mounted a comeback and won 4-2 in extra time. "It’s a painful defeat," said Frank Baumann after full time.
WERDER.DE spoke to the visibly disappointed Green-Whites after the game and wrote down their reactions.
Zlatko Junuzovic: "We played well today – that was a proper cup fight. We threw everything we had at the game and I see nothing but positives in the team’s performance."
Maximilian Eggestein: "We wanted to put Leverkusen under pressure right from the off and push forward; we managed to do so very well and took an early two-goal lead as a result. Had we scored the third during this spell, it would have been game over. It was very frustrating to concede that goal on the counter right before half time – he just ran from the halfway line towards our goal on his own. For their second goal, you have to appreciate their class, then in extra time it was a very open game and we were on the wrong end of that. We put up an excellent fight against Leverkusen tonight – they’re second in the league, so that’s definitely something to build on."
Florian Kohfeldt: "It was an exciting game, a real cup fight. Unfortunately we weren’t able to win it – we’re very disappointed, but I can only praise the team for the way they went out there and played tonight. We created lots of chances against the team currently second in the Bundesliga and could have decided the game at 2-0 up. Florian Kainz’s effort was denied by some fantastic goalkeeping, but we weren’t able to utilise our counterattacks either. This was the end of a chapter tonight, but we can and we will build on the performance."
Frank Baumann: "The team put in a great shift and a good performance, but we didn’t manage to make use of our chances. The cup exit hurts - it has to hurt, but the team has shown before that they can cope well with setbacks."
Zlatko Junuzovic: "Obviously we’re upset. We were so close, but it just wasn’t quite enough. It could have been such a good night."
Maximilian Eggestein: "It is extremely disappointing, more so because we took the lead. We were desperate to go through today and really believed we could. This will certainly be playing on our minds for the next couple of days, but then we’ll shift our focus to the tasks ahead."
Frank Baumann: "It’s a disappointing result, because we really wanted to go through today. It’s a painful way to go out."
Zlatko Junuzovic: "We need to make full use of every day now and reboot. We’ve got four days now until Sunday to recharge our batteries, then we want to build on a lot of the things we did today. If we do that, then we have every chance of beating Wolfsburg."
Maximilian Eggestein: "We’re well aware of our situation in the league – we’re in a relegation battle. Wolfsburg is a very important game for us and from Thursday at the latest all our attention will be on that."
Florian Kohfeldt: "We’ll just take the disappointment today, tomorrow we’ll rest and then it will be all about the game against Wolfsburg. If we go out with the same attitude as today, perform like we did today, we will get our reward."
Florian Kohfeldt: "Aron took a knock to his hip and his leg went numb, so I had to take him off. It’s nothing we need to worry about though."
