Match reaction from the cup win over Schalke 04

Markus Gisdol:“We looked to play with courage and wanted to put the opponents under pressure. Overall, we delivered a good performance today and improved after taking the lead. We defended higher up the pitch and switched from defence to attack very well. It was a maturing process that was certainly the key to our success. Of course we're over the moon with the win and getting through to the quarterfinals.”

Jens Keller:“We had a first-half performance that wasn't worth discussing. We have to apologise to our fans, who supported us fantastically yet again. We hoped for so much more but we thought that we could the job today without breaking a sweat. I would have changed ten players at half time if I could have. We often played without a plan and we're obviously bitterly disappointed.”

Jens Grahl:“I'm happy with my own performance and the team had a good game today. We can celebrate tonight, but the preparations for the match in Frankfurt start tomorrow.”

Kai Herdling:“It's simply sensational. I don't want to compare it to when we progressed against Leverkusen ten years ago. We wanted to defend with a high line today and we did that very well, particularly in the first half. That left us with less distance to their goal. I was trying to cross to Kevin for my goal so he could head it in. It's great that the ball went in the way it did. I think we deserved to win and you can see the maturing process that the team has gone through.”

Alexander Rosen: “Of course it's a special moment. To come here with such a young team, particularly at the back, and put in such a stable performance is great. But we won't read into it too much. One thing is for certain, we believe in this team and the path we're on and we want to continue along it, even if there are setbacks. The first goal gave the team a great deal of assurance and we looked very dangerous in almost every attack right until the end.”

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