Wolves bemoan their lack of bite

After VfL Wolfsburg's UEFA Europa League dream came to an abrupt end with a 1-0 quarter-final second leg defeat against Fulham FC, coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner bemoaned his side's lack of potency in the final third.

"We were desperate to make it into the semi-finals but we didn't have the edge in attack," said Köstner, who still managed to see the positive side of Wolfsburg's progress on the continental stage. "We're very disappointed because we've put in some great performances in Europe this season. Now we need to build on those displays and reproduce them in the Bundesliga."

Bobby Zamora scored the only goal of the game inside 25 seconds, leaving the home side rattled as they struggled to overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first leg: "The early goal shocked the team and we never recovered from it," continued Köstner, who introduced Ashkan Dejagah early on in the match in the hope of stretching the Fulham rearguard. "The coach told me to give them something to think about out wide and I managed to do that, but they were solid at the back," said the winger.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Diego Benaglio felt that the general cohesion throughout the team was insufficient for Wolfsburg to progress. "We've gone behind several times in the past but that never stopped us turning games around," he said. "We had a few good opportunities to get back into it but things didn't quite click for us on the whole. I have no idea why."

Though Grafite had a goal ruled out for offside and Edin Džeko struck a post, left-back Marcel Schäfer acknowledged that the lack of a final product prevented the German champions from rescuing the tie. "We tried to get forward but we didn't create enough gilt-edged opportunities to get back into the game. The final pass just wasn't there," he said.

Having gone further in Europe than ever before, Wolfsburg must now divert their full attention to the domestic scene if they are to stand any chance of appearing in the competition again next season. "We all wanted to make the semis but now we have to concentrate on gaining as many points as we can in the league," said Benaglio. Köstner concluded: "We need to process this disappointment as quickly as possible and make sure we reward our loyal fans with the best possible performances in our final five games of the season."