Bayer Leverkusen knocked Borussia Dortmund out in the last 16 of the German Cup, with Ibrahim Maza scoring the only goal in a 1-0 away win on Tuesday.
Maza’s 34th-minute strike put the 2024 cup winners on track for victory and exact instant revenge on Dortmund, who beat them 2-1 in their own backyard in the Bundesliga three days ago.
“The goal was a bit of instinct and a bit of luck too, but that’s part of it – that’s normal in football,” Maza said after the game.
Leverkusen will be joined in the quarter-finals by RB Leipzig, who beat Magdeburg 3-1 at home, along with Hertha Berlin and St Pauli, who won earlier on Tuesday.
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Bundesliga heavyweights Dortmund and Leverkusen had met 109 times in all competitions dating back to the early 1950s but had never faced off in the German Cup.
Earlier on Tuesday, St Pauli broke out of their recent Bundesliga funk to win 2-1 at three-time winners Borussia Moenchengladbach.
In the German capital, Hertha Berlin thumped 2024 finalists Kaiserslautern 6-1, with 16-year-old Kennet Eichhorn becoming the youngest goalscorer in the competition’s history.
Bayern Munich, winners a record 20 times, play at Union Berlin on Wednesday while holders Stuttgart are away at Bochum.
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