BVB Eliminated from DFB-Pokal, Title Hopes Diminished After Leverkusen Loss
Leverkusen, Germany – Borussia Dortmund’s season took a meaningful blow Tuesday night, falling 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal Round of 16. The defeat, avenging leverkusen’s recent 2-1 Bundesliga loss to Dortmund, effectively ends BVB’s realistic chances of silverware this season. Ibrahim Maza scored the decisive goal in the 34th minute, sending Leverkusen into the quarter-finals.
The loss comes just nine days after Sporting director Lars Ricken publicly identified a DFB-Pokal victory as a desired farewell gift for outgoing club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke. However, Dortmund delivered a lackluster performance, notably in attack. New signing Fábio Silva started in place of Serhou Guirassy,but was later substituted after a disappointing showing. Guirassy, who reportedly refused to shake hands with coach Niko Kovac following Saturday’s match, was brought on as a substitute but failed to impact the game, even walking past Kovac without a word and discarding his gloves after being subbed off.
Kovac downplayed speculation surrounding Guirassy’s benching, stating pre-match on Sky, “A lot of people will speculate, but I want to take the wind out of my sails right away. That has nothing to do with the previous story, he didn’t play from the start in the cup in Frankfurt. That has nothing to do with the last game. We want to bring in a bit of freshness.”
The match itself saw a sluggish first half from both sides, with Leverkusen capitalizing on the only well-executed attack. Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi had two opportunities to equalize in the 40th and 42nd minutes but was unable to convert.
Despite falling behind, Dortmund showed little urgency after the break. A potential second goal for Leverkusen by Martin Terrier in the 60th minute was disallowed for offside. Kovac responded with a triple substitution, bringing on Guirassy, Julian Brandt, and Maximilian Beier, but the changes failed to spark a turnaround.
With the DFB-Pokal now out of reach, and facing a significant gap in the Bundesliga standings, Dortmund’s hopes of champions League qualification appear increasingly fragile.
Other DFB-Pokal Round of 16 Results:
* Hertha BSC – 1. FC Kaiserslautern 6:1
* Borussia Mönchengladbach – FC St. Pauli 1:2
* RB Leipzig – 1. FC Magdeburg 3:1