Ilia Gruev: “Everyone was celebrating when we made it 3-2. The referee pointed to the spot and clearly signified it was a goal. Then all of a sudden the linesman interferes and, to be honest, I don’t know why he did what he did.”
Leonardo Bittencourt: “It’s often the case that a player will be on the floor after a corner. Then, the fourth official who is standing back on the halfway line decides that there was a hand in the face before the corner. So with all respect, because the referees actually did a good job today, but sometimes I have the feeling that they can’t function without VAR. In my opinion, the fourth official’s decision brought chaos unnecessarily to what was actually a great cup game up until that point.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “The referee explained that Fabio had put his hand in the opponent’s face before the corner. It was the fourth official, who was standing 50 metres away on the halfway line, that claimed to see that. Then we were told to retake the corner, even though the whistle hadn’t gone. So it was all really confusing. Frankly, I scored a legal headed goal and I don’t think what happened with Fabio interfered with that in any way.”
Ole Werner: “I don’t understand why the goal was ruled out. The way it all happened was especially remarkable. In the penalty shoot-out, we still had a chance to win the game as the penalties were taken well for the most part. It’s a tough evening for us definitely.”