Stuttgart coach Hoeness: 'Bayern showed how much class they have'

VfB Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness recognized that Bayern Munich were one level above them after they failed to defend their German Cup title on Sunday.

Bayern claimed their first title in the competition in six years after a 3-0 win against last season's champions thanks to Harry Kane's hat-trick.

"First of all, congratulations to Bayern. We were close, but in the end they showed how much class they have," Hoeness said in a news conference.

"We felt that more was possible today. We're proud, we should be. We wanted to defend the title, it was our goal, so we're also disappointed."

Despite the defeat, Hoeness still had a lot of positive things to take from the season.

"Disappointing to lose, but we have played an incredible season. We played in three competitions (Bundesliga, German Cup and Europa League) and in the end we finished (the league) in fourth and reached the Cup final. Great season," he said.