(CNN) --
A struggling German soccer team is offering a refund to its fans
who traveled to another city to watch it suffer a 4-0
loss.
More than 600 Energie Cottbus supporters saw their team suffer its
sixth loss in seven games when it received a 4-0 drubbing Friday at
the hands of another team, Schalke.
Cottbus is second from the bottom in its league's ranking and is in
danger of being relegated to a lower league at the end of the
season.
The team posted a Web statement Saturday headlined, "Sorry, Energie
Fans!"
In it, the team said its players "did not manage at any time to
stand up to a high-class opponent with our particular qualities of
passion, dedication and one-on-one duels."
"Certainly one can lose at Schalke," the team manager Steffen
Heidrich said in the statement. "Nevertheless we did not put up
enough defense against the class of the individuals of this
opponent."
The team said it will announce details in the coming weeks of how
fans can receive a refund on their admission ticket.
"I welcome the apologetic gesture of the team to its fans,"
Heidrich said. "Real compensation must actually be given in the
coming matches."