Next top game lost, first title lost: four days after falling from the top of the table in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund was eliminated from the DFB Cup. BVB lost 0: 2 (0: 1) to defending champion RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening, who thus overcame their own crisis after the last three defeats. For BVB coach Edin Terzic, who won the title against RB in 2021, it was the first defeat in the cup. Now the 40-year-old can concentrate fully on the championship, which BVB has not yet written off despite the recent defeat against Bayern Munich.
In front of 47,069 fans, Timo Werner (22nd minute) used one of Leipzig’s many chances to take the lead. Up until then, BVB had been completely off the mark, Mats Hummels, who had started for the injured national player Nico Schlotterbeck, was unlucky when conceding a goal. Willi Orban scored the second goal in a gripping final phase in the eighth minute of extra time.
The victory against his former employer has given Leipzig coach Marco Rose a few quieter days than last. Not only had his team lost three times in a row, they hadn’t scored a goal either. Leipzig is still convinced of the trainer and wants to renew the contract that runs until 2024. “We want to extend Marko, that’s clear,” said sports director Max Eberl on ZDF before kick-off.
The first half proved that Rose can set the team up correctly for such a top game. Leipzig played like unleashed, producing a number of great chances. Konrad Laimer should have scored after three minutes after a Werner hack, and BVB keeper Gregor Kobel saved a flutter ball from Dani Olmo (6th). Six minutes later the goalkeeper was just there with his toe and defused another attempt by Olmo. The Spanish playmaker was back in the starting XI for the first time since late January through injury and put on a hugely inspiring performance.
A goal for Leipzig was only a matter of time – and after a little more than 20 minutes it fell. Central defender Mohamed Simakan ventured to the other side of the pitch, making Hummels look massively bad and passing flat in the middle to Werner. Rose’s tactical switch to a back three, which is actually not that popular with the players, worked out perfectly. Mentally, Leipzig were fully focused, aware of every situation and greedy for the ball.
And BVB? Apparently still hampered by the 2:4 in Munich, the team couldn’t get anything going offensively. The team sometimes had problems playing the ball out of their own half without an accident. This led to numerous switching opportunities for Leipzig. Werner missed another big chance (39′) when he ran towards Kobel alone, but put the ball inaccurately across to Laimer.
Terzic reacted during the break, switched to two strikers and also a back three. Youssoufa Moukoko joined the previously invisible Donyell Malen, national player Marius Wolf had to go down. Emre Can moved back into the defensive line from midfield. However, two almost identical formations initially led to both teams neutralizing each other. However, BVB got into the game much better now and presented Leipzig with a few mental tasks.
After a good hour, Terzic brought in his midfield star Jude Bellingham, who had been rotated out of the starting XI after the stresses of the past few weeks. However, Leipzig had the next big chance, Laimer (78th) appeared completely free in front of Kobel, the BVB goalkeeper saved once more. Up front, BVB was still acutely lacking in goal danger. Up until the 80th minute, Dortmund didn’t have a single shot on goal in their statistics. At Leipzig there were nine by then.
Sebastian Hoeneß celebrated a lackluster debut victory as coach of VfB Stuttgart and led the Swabians to the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. The bottom of the table in the Bundesliga won 1-0 (0-0) in the black and red mood temple of 1. FC Nuremberg and made it into the top four for the first time since 2013. Enzo Millot redeemed the Swabians in a long, balanced game on Wednesday evening in the 83rd minute.
The success in the DFB Cup does not solve Stuttgart’s relegation worries in the Bundesliga, but it can provide the necessary push in the fight for relegation. Especially before the game on Sunday against Keller’s competitor VfL Bochum. For the “club” the end in the cup is the next mood dampener in already difficult football weeks.
50,000 fans turned Nuremberg’s Max Morlock Stadium into a cauldron right from the start. The rush, which was unusual for Franconian conditions, even led to such massive problems on arrival that the game was kicked off 30 minutes later than planned. At least for the supporters who had hoped for playful highlights, the wait wasn’t worth it at first.
In the early minutes, the action took place exclusively between the penalty areas, intense duels in midfield determined the game. Stuttgart, where Hoeneß Atakan Karazor, Luca Pfeiffer, Chris Führich and Borna Sosa were new in the starting XI, were slightly superior – but the guests only rarely made it into the top third against well defending Franconia around FCN debutant Jannes Horn.
From the middle of the first half, the urge phases then alternated, but great chances remained in short supply. First, the Swabians controlled the game. There were hardly any breaks for the “club”, which only managed a few relief attacks. However, the final minutes belonged to the hosts again, who in turn lacked precision in the end. There was no sign of a class difference in a tough cup game in the first 45 minutes.
Whatever Hoeneß gave the Stuttgarters in his first half speech, it had an effect: the Bundesliga club suddenly showed the announced offensive football and got their first big chance with a header from Waldemar Anton (53rd minute). Pfeiffer (63rd) was unable to use an unnecessary rebound from FCN keeper Peter Vindahl and put the ball over the goal from close range – lucky for Nuremberg.
The substitution of Serhou Guirassy livened up the Stuttgart offensive game. Vindahl (71st) parried twice against the center forward. On the other hand, Stuttgart goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, who played in Nuremberg from 2017 to 2019, was completely unemployed. In this phase, the “Club” placed themselves far behind, all men were in their own half. When everything pointed to an extension, Millot, who had just been substituted on, redeemed the guests and gave Hoeneß a successful debut.
