In the DFB Cup, Eintracht Frankfurt will say goodbye to a third division team in the round of 16. League leaders Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, did better.
Favorite fright 1. FC Saarbrücken has landed the next cup coup and, after record champions Bayern Munich, also knocked last year’s finalists Eintracht Frankfurt out of the competition. The third division football team won the round of 16 duel against the Conference League participants 2-0 (0-0) on Wednesday and is in the quarter-finals for the ninth time in the club’s history.
In front of 15,903 spectators in the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion, Kai Brünker in the 64th minute and Luca Kerber (78th) scored the goals for the outsider, who will receive a bonus of around 1.7 million euros for progressing. The Saarlanders have already raised more than three million euros in the current competition. In addition to the game, the disappointing Eintracht also lost Noel Futkeu, who was shown a red card after an assault (83′).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen – SC Paderborn
Clouded by injury concerns about Florian Wirtz, the record hunters from Bayer Leverkusen have reached the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and are favorites for the rest of the competition. The Bundesliga table leaders only managed to escape their compulsory task in the round of 16 against the brave second division tenth-placed SC Paderborn with difficulty, winning 3-1 (2-0). After the elimination of record winners FC Bayern Munich and defending champions RB Leipzig, Bayer are now given the best chance of winning the title. After 21 competitive games this season, the Werkself are still unbeaten with 19 wins.
Victory against FC Bayern
The magical night in Saarbrücken – pictures of an unforgettable cup evening
A big downer for Leverkusen was the injury-related loss of national player Wirtz, who had to leave the field after being kicked on the heel (44th minute). Wirtz was then able to perform, but was escorted into the dressing room with a contorted face in pain and supported by two supervisors. Bayer initially wrote that the 20-year-old had suffered a “painful blow to his ankle.”
The goals for Bayer were scored by Victor Boniface (12th) with his 14th competitive goal since his move in the summer, the Argentine world champion Exequiel Palacios (29th) and Patrik Schick twelve minutes after coming on as a substitute (87th). Paderborn, which won 3-1 at SC Freiburg in the previous round and whose coach Lukas Kwasniok led 1. FC Saarbrücken into the semi-finals as the first fourth division team in 2020, shortened the score thanks to Sebastian Klaas (83′). But it wasn’t enough for the third quarter-final in the club’s history after 2018 and 2019.
Source: Stern
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