Sport semi-finals in the DFB Cup
Who is going to stop this team? Leverkusen after gala in the final
As of: 11:06 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Hello, Berlin: Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli and Granit Xhaka (from left) celebrate reaching the final
Source: dpa/Marius Becker
Bayer Leverkusen used the second semi-final in the DFB Cup for another demonstration of power. The derby against Fortuna Düsseldorf was already decided at halftime. After the 40th game without defeat, the managing director announces the next victories.
The big favorite made it to the cup final on May 25th. Bayer Leverkusen won the semi-final against Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-0 (3-0) and can continue to dream of a treble given their 13-point lead in the Bundesliga and the upcoming quarter-final games in the Europa League against West Ham United in the coming weeks.
Against the second division team from Düsseldorf, the sovereign Bundesliga table leaders delivered another gala with a lot of speed and wit. “It doesn’t stop, we don’t let up and don’t want to stop,” said Leverkusen’s sports director Simon Rolfes after the 40th competitive game in a row without defeat. And nothing will change in the coming weeks: “Now we’re entering the home stretch. We’ll keep pushing through.”
After just 20 minutes, coach Xabi Alonso’s team had taken a 2-0 lead. Jeremie Frimpong (7th) and Amine Adli (20th) were successful. Florian Wirtz made the preliminary decision before the break (35th). Fifteen minutes after the restart, the 20-year-old international scored a brace when he converted a hand penalty (60′).
The 4-0 from the spot: Florian Wirtz confidently converted his penalty
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
In addition to the clear victory, Leverkusen also celebrated the comeback of their best goalscorer: Victor Boniface, who had not yet played a game this year due to an adductor injury, made his comeback in the 65th minute.
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Fortuna, accompanied by Edelfan Campino among others, did not have to eliminate a single Bundesliga team on the way to its first semi-final in 28 years, but played away from home throughout and prevailed against league rivals Magdeburg and St. Pauli, among others. The Düsseldorf team, who had to do without Ao Tanaka for a short time due to an appendix operation, did not play at the back despite a nominal five-man chain, unlike many Bundesliga teams in the BayArena. But that didn’t work. From the start, Leverkusen seemed to crush the second division team.
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Even after the break nothing changed. Bayer obviously wanted more goals, for Düsseldorf it was just a matter of limiting the damage. When Patrik Schick headed the ball onto the post, Düsseldorf seemed to have escaped the fourth goal. But because Matthias Zimmermann deflected the ball with his hand, there was video evidence of a penalty, which Wirtz safely converted.
“Bayer Leverkusen has a very, very good team. We had no chance at all throughout the entire season,” Düsseldorf’s sports director Christian Weber acknowledged: “They played down their game. It was a class difference. But we’re on the right track and we’re not going to let a game like this ruin it.”
Kaiserslautern is threatened with deadline stress
On Tuesday, second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern was the first team to reach the final with a 2-0 win at 1. FC Saarbrücken. The Palatinate team, which is threatened with relegation, may be threatened with a deadline hunt. If the FCK is still in the relegation zone after the 34th matchday, as is currently the case, two more games would be added. The matches of table 16. of the second league against the third team of the third league are scheduled for May 24th and 28th. The German Football League already said before the cup semi-final that alternative dates on May 22, 2024 (first leg) and May 29, 2024 (second leg) would be possible.
