Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu said it was patronizing for his side to be seen as plucky losers in the Europa League final.
Aston Villa easily won the Istanbul contest 3-0 on Wednesday as Freiburg failed to land a first major honour in their maiden European final.
The Black Forest side's journey to the showpiece belied their relatively modest means. But a new stadium and finishes just outside the Champions League places in the Bundesliga in recent years have shown the club's growth.
Atubolu, who could have played his last match for Freiburg amid reports they are signing Werder Bremen's Mio Backhaus, told RTL: "We are very disappointed, I don't want to talk about Freiburg being little.
"We gave the game away in three or four minutes. We conceded goals far too easily. We didn't have a lot of chances in the match."
Despite rejecting the notion that Freiburg could be proud of their season, in which they also finished seventh domestically for a Conference League spot, he did have warm words for the fans.
"Huge, huge respect. The tickets were immediately sold out, it is mad. The atmosphere was excellent," he said.
Forward Igor Matanović also hailed the over 11,000 supporters who travelled to Turkey. Some 15,000 watched the game back in Freiburg together on a big screen.
"They really push us a lot, support us every single day. When you go to the city, you see what this club means to these supporters, to the people in the city," he told UEFA. "We wanted to give them more."
Team-mate Vincenzo Grifo echoed that view, but agreed with Atubolu that the defeat should not be viewed as anything but a painful loss for the underdogs.
"It is not a happy feeling," Freiburg's record scorer said. "We could not impose any pressure and Aston Villa are the deserved winners.
"The fans have brought us here, they pushed us. Even in bad times they have been there for us. You play football for these moments and unfortunately we lost."
