"Lacked the penetrative power"

Wednesday’s 0-1 defeat to FC Schalke 04 marked the end of VfL Wolfsburg’s run in the DFB-Cup for this season. The golden-goal on the night was scored by Guido Burgstaller after just ten minutes. Subsequently, VfL developed a short phase of pressure, but in the end, Domenico Tedesco held onto their narrow advantage over the distance. Whilst the 'Royal Blues' now look forward to Sunday’s semi-final draw, the Wolves can concentrate completely on the tasks ahead in the Bundesliga.

Martin Schmidt: We tried everything and invested a great deal during the second-half, but it just wasn’t enough to earn us an equaliser and force the game into extra-time. We made a good start to the match, looked to press forward courageously and we knew our chances would come. Then we were caught on the break, which we were unable to defend on the half-way line. Having conceded, we went through a ten-minute period of Schalke pressure, during which we were lucky on two or three occasions, but after that we got back into the game well and created some openings. We took a brave approach to the second period and threw everything we could at our opponents, but failed to create any really clear chances. We ultimately lacked the penetrative power in the box and were unable to get in behind the opposition defence. We can now focus 100% on the Bundesliga and invest all our efforts there.

Domenico Tedesco: I think we deservedly won. We played well in the first-half and looked to learn from the Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg – when VfL deservedly scored a late equaliser. Tonight we operated with four men in the centre, to close down the spaces but still to remain active ourselves. Before the break, we missed out on the opportunity to score a second goal. We pressed high up the pitch and looked to put our opponents under pressure early, which worked very well. We are satisfied with the result and about progressing to the semi-finals. It’s a nice feeling to be amongst the final four.