The highly anticipated DFB Cup encounter against Arminia Bielefeld ended in bitter disappointment for SV Werder. Their cup journey came to an end in the last 16 as they lost 3-1. "We didn't defend well enough and need to take a good, hard look at ourselves and our performance," explained captain Clemens Fritz, who was sent off shortly before the final whistle. "Arminia deserved to win. We can't blame the weather, pitch or referee," stated manager Viktor Skripnik.

WERDER.DE got the reaction to how the evening unfolded:

Thoughts on the game:

Clemens Fritz: "We knew that it was going to be a scrappy game full of hidden fouls but we didn't rise up to the challenge. We missed chances to score in the opening stages. Both teams had to deal with the playing surface - that's no excuse. We're not looking to make excuses. We lost and need to take a good, hard look at our performance."

Viktor Skripnik: "We didn't start the game badly but we just didn't take our chances while we were on top. Bielefeld came more into the game afterwards and were bold in attack. In the end, we deserved to lose because everything was missing from our performance: the correct attitude, concentration and luck. The pitch is no excuse as both teams had to deal with it. I'm disappointed that we thought that it was a foregone conclusion. "

Thomas Eichin: "We dominated the opening stages and had chances but just couldn't score. This is where we needed to be cleverer with our play and more clinical in the penalty area. That annoys me. When Bielefeld scored to take the lead, it was the first time they'd really been in the game. Suddenly they realised that they could get something out of the match. We only woke up in the 76th minute. Bielefeld can play good football - they showed that often enough tonight. It was a classic cup evening: the atmosphere, the pitch - it had everything."

Thoughts on being knocked out and the Bundesliga game in Freiburg:

Fin Bartels: "This defeat annoys all of us. It was a tricky game, just as we'd spoken about beforehand, but we'd obviously imagined a different outcome. It is difficult to explain where it went wrong. We lacked a spark. It's extremely bitter that we haven't taken our chance to make it into the quarter-finals. We need to forget this game as quickly as possible. I think it's good that our next game comes so soon because then we don't have much time to dwell on our defeat."

Koen Casteels: "It's tricky to find the right words. We're all going back to Bremen with a bad feeling. We simply tried too often to be too clever with the ball. Maybe the better option would have been to play more long balls. We need to learn from this game and quickly switch our focus to Saturday's game. That match will be quite different and we should be able to play nicer football."

Thomas Eichin: "We have a vitally important game against Freiburg, who also had a midweek cup fixture, on Saturday. They're definitely not going to be fitter than us but they will have more confidence going into the game off the back of their DFB Cup victory. It's important that we draw the right conclusions from our two recent defeats and address the correct elements of our game."

Sebastian Prödl: "We can't gloss over our defeat and try to find excuses. It's embarrassing and a complete slip-up when you're knocked out by a third division team. We now quickly have to change our focus back to the Bundesliga; another tough test awaits us on Saturday

Thoughts on Bielefeld's first goal:

Sebastian Prödl: "The whole situation was very unfortunate. Koen played the ball to me, I was under pressure and wanted to clear the ball but chose completely the wrong direction. Afterwards we still had one or two chances to clear the ball but couldn't."

Thoughts on the change of goalkeeper:

Viktor Skripnik: "It's not unusual for the second choice keeper to play in the cup. I'll make a new decision with regard to the weekend."