Germany team chief Michael Vesper has said that the Winter Olympics team have failed to reach the targets set before the Games.

In the build-up to Sochi 2014, Vesper believed that it was possible for the nation to win between 27 and 30 medals, but with just one day of competition remaining, Germany have only collected 18 medals and lie fifth in the table.

"We did not reach our goal," Vesper is quoted as saying by Reuters. "We had a great first week-and-a-half where we were leading the national table. Then it sadly broke down.

"We had a lot of bad luck, we had a lot of close fourth places and therefore we did not reach our intended goal of the amount of medals won.

"It is right that we were not successful in many cases."

However, Vesper has refuted claims that the target set before the Games were too optimistic.

"I don't think it is wrong to set ourselves these goals. They were not unrealistic, because the team definitely had the potential to achieve the lower margin of 27 medals," he added.

Germany finished second in the medals table for the 2010 Winter Olympics and won 30 medals in total.