Paderborn, Germany – October 30, 2025, 7:05 a.m. – Bayer Leverkusen narrowly avoided a major upset in the second round of the DFB Cup,defeating SC Paderborn 4-2 after extra time. The hard-fought victory, however, has left the Werkself visibly frustrated ahead of their crucial Bundesliga clash against FC bayern on Saturday.
Leverkusen took the lead in the 58th minute through a free kick from Alejandro Grimaldo, following a red card to Paderborn’s Felix Götze for a foul on Christian Kofane. Grimaldo, who has established himself as a top free-kick taker – reportedly inspired by Juninho and practicing the technique for over 15 years – described his approach to free kicks, telling the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”: “From 23, 25, 27 meters. If there’s a free kick for us, I think: You have to take it. You can’t miss it now. I don’t want to say that a free kick from a distance is like a penalty for us. The difficulty is different. But it’s a very clear scoring prospect.”
Despite their lead, Leverkusen struggled to maintain control. Paderborn equalized in the 90th minute wiht a header from Stefano Marino. The hosts then took the lead in the sixth minute of extra time through Sven Michel, who hadn’t scored as April.
Leverkusen responded with goals from Jarell Quansah (105+1), Ibrahim Maza (120+2), and Aleix Garcia (120+4) to secure the win.
Players expressed their dissatisfaction with the extended match. ”Unnecessary, completely unnecessary,” said Jonas Hofmann, adding, “but my God, that’s the game. We’ll still go there with ambition to take something with us and not complain.The 30 minutes weren’t helpful, of course, but we’d rather take it as if we’d been kicked out.”
Coach Kasper Hjulmand echoed this sentiment, stating, “Overall a victory – but a lot of problems.” He added that the team would focus on recovery ahead of Saturday’s match against Bayern, saying, “Important days are coming. We won’t train much to find the energy again.”
The match against Bayern is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Sky and available via the ntv.de live ticker.
