Reactions: “Extremely bitter, because it was a knock-out game”

Sebastian Kehl (in the mixed zone): “We weren’t good enough in one or two situations, we weren’t sharp enough. It was a game between two top teams who were evenly matched and didn’t allow much. We didn’t have to lose it and had chances to make it 1-1 and get back into the game. Today it wasn’t enough. We had a lot of chances to score and only allowed two chances in total. Leverkusen were very effective today. We weren’t as determined in our set pieces. That’s frustrating.”

Emre Can (on Das Erste): “We had a decent game, created a few chances, but didn’t take them. And that’s extremely bitter because it was a knockout game today. In the end, maybe we lacked that final bit of hunger. We can’t make up for that again this season. We had set ourselves extremely high goals and unfortunately we’re out now. We wanted to be brave, we wanted to go for it; man against man, when we had to, without the ball. We wanted to go extremely far in this competition in particular, but unfortunately we didn’t make it – extremely bitter. We’ll keep going, we’ll push hard in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League. We still have a long season ahead of us.”

Nico Schlotterbeck (on ARD): “We had a decent game, we needed to equalise before half-time, then it would have gone in a different direction. In the second half, we lacked a bit of punch. Leverkusen simply scored one more goal and defended well. The two missed chances before half-time hurt. Then the game would have been more open. The game simply changed after Leverkusen’s goal. They scored the opening goal, and the rest was bitter today. Nevertheless, we still want to achieve a great deal. We’ve done well in the league and we’re sixth in the Champions League. But of course today hurts a lot. I’m also very downhearted. We now need a few days to recover, and then we’ll carry on.”

Felix Nmecha (in the mixed zone): “In games like this, it always comes down to moments, who takes them and who doesn’t. That’s just how it is in a knock-out game. I think we had better phases today, a bit more control than on Saturday. It’s a real shame. The cup was a clear goal for all of us.”

Daniel Svensson (in the mixed zone on BVB TV): “Overall, we had the game well under control. I think we created enough chances in this game, and I also think we played quite well. It’s very disappointing. We had more chances today than in the last game (in Leverkusen, ed.). But if you don’t score goals, it doesn’t matter. We need to review the game and figure out what we can improve. Of course, we’re disappointed today and tomorrow, but then we have to focus on the next game.”

Transcribed by Boris Rupert