BVB suffer bitter last-16 defeat to Leverkusen

In front of 81,365 spectators at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, Leverkusen took the lead in the 34th minute thanks to a fortunate goal from Maza. Adeyemi missed two chances to equalise before half-time. The second half was one-way traffic, but the besieged visitors did well to deny BVB any clear-cut chances. None of Dortmund’s 18 shots on goal found the net. After seven minutes of added time, an unfortunate cup exit was confirmed.

Scenario:

BVB had reached the round of 16 with wins over Rot-Weiss Essen (1-0) and Eintracht Frankfurt (4-2 on penalties), while Leverkusen had won in Grossaspach (4-0) and Paderborn (4-2 after extra time). Three days after the Bundesliga clash, which BVB won 2-1 in Leverkusen, the two teams met again. It was the first ever meeting between the two clubs in the DFB-Pokal.

Personnel matters:Beier was back in the squad, with only Süle still missing due to a toe injury. Emre Can, Jobe Bellingham, Carney Chukwuemeka and Fabio Silva were four fresh faces in the starting line-up. Aaron Anselmino, Marcel Sabitzer, Julian Brandt and Serhou Guirassy dropped to the bench.

Tactics: Can took the right-back position in the back three anchored by Anton (Schlotterbeck on the left), while Nmecha was mostly the lone defensive midfielder in front of them, with Bellingham positioned slightly further forward, almost level with Chukwuemeka. Fabio Silva (central) and Adeyemi (often coming in from the right) formed an attacking duo. Against the ball, the 3-3-2-2 became a 5-2-3, paired with high, courageous pressing against a Werkself team lined up in a 3-2-4-1.

The match & analysis:Both teams were proactive from the start, and both had spells in which they showed their attacking threat. However, both defences were solid and nipped any danger in the bud early on. After 30 minutes, the shot statistics were 3-3, but there were no real chances to speak of.

But then the visitors took the lead. Grimaldo had some space on the left side of midfield and passed to Maza, who seemed to be crowded out by Can and Anton in the penalty area. However, the ball bounced back kindly to the Leverkusen player, who curled it into the far corner to make it 1-0 (34). This goal ramped up the excitement. Adeyemi soon missed two chances to equalise within two minutes. First, Fabio Silva laid the ball back inside with the sole of his boot from the right of the six-yard box to his strike partner, who shot accurately, but Andrich slid in to block the ball on the goalline and prevent BVB from drawing level. Not long afterwards, Adeyemi dinked the ball to the onrushing Svensson on the left in the penalty area, who headed the ball back inside. From 11 metres out, in a half-right position, Adeyemi struck the ball hard, but it zipped just wide of the right-hand post (42).

The second half began with Dortmund applying constant pressure, but largely without any real impact. The exception came in the 57th minute, when Bellingham sent a sharp cross from the left side of the penalty area to the right post. Flekken was lucky to clear the ball away from Ryerson, and Adeyemi's follow-up shot went wide. Leverkusen relied on counterattacks and celebrated a goal from Terrier after exactly an hour, but Poku – who was instrumental in the build-up – had started from an offside position. Kovac responded with a triple substitution: Serhou Guirassy, Maximilian Beier and Julian Brandt replaced Fabio Silva, Carney Chukwuemeka and Julian Ryerson. Nico Schlotterbeck then tried his luck from distance – narrowly missing the target (77).

The corner count was 10-0 with ten minutes to go. But Leverkusen continued to defend attentively. And the clock was ticking against BVB. Adeyemi's last-gasp attempt with a header ended up in the side netting (90+5).

Teams & goals

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Can, Anton, Schlotterbeck – Ryerson (68, Beier), Nmecha (74, Gross), Svensson (86, Bensebaini) – Bellingham, Chukwuemeka (68, Brandt) – Adeyemi, Fabio Silva (68, Guirassy)

Bayer Leverkusen: Flekken – Quansah, Andrich, Tapsoba – Maza, Aleix Garcia – Hofmann (90+3, Badé), Terrier (61, Tillman), Grimaldo, Poku (83, Tella) – Kofane (61, Kofane)

Substitutes: Meyer, Couto, Bensebaini, Sabitzer, Anselmino – Lomb, Belocian, Ben Seghir, Echeverri, Sarco Goals: 0-1 Maza (34, Grimaldo)\

Corners: 11-0 (5-0 at half-time), chance ratio: 3-3 (2-1)

Referee: Stieler (Sölden/Schwarzwald), bookings: Anton, Bellingham, Can – Andrich, Tillman

Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out), weather: dry, 7 degrees celsius