The cup heroes from 1. FC Saarbrücken danced arm in arm in front of their fans on the completely soaked grass, while the professionals from Borussia Mönchengladbach crept off the pitch completely stunned. “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin!” echoed through the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion after the final whistle. 1. FC Saarbrücken eliminated the next Bundesliga team in the DFB Cup and sensationally reached the semi-finals. In the rescheduled quarter-finals, the third division soccer team beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 (1-1) on Tuesday evening. Amine Naifi (11th minute) and Kai Brünker (90th 3) scored for the hosts, who had previously eliminated FC Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others. Now the Gladbachers also lost in the Ludwigsparkstadion, Robin Hack (8th) had initially put them in the lead. In the semi-finals on April 2nd, Saarbrücken will play against 1. FC Kaiserslautern for a place in the final in Berlin.
1. FC Saarbrücken continues its miraculous cup journey and is sensationally in the semi-finals. The third division soccer team also duped Borussia Mönchengladbach in the rescheduled quarter-finals on Tuesday evening and moved into the round of the best four teams after a 2-1 (1-1) win. The Saarlanders had previously eliminated FC Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others. In the fifth cup semi-final in the club’s history, they will face second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern on April 2nd.
“I’m just proud of everyone right now. I could just cry,” said the completely overwhelmed winning goal scorer Brünker on Sky. “I don’t know what will happen today. Now we can aim for the final.” Coach Rüdiger Ziehl was also thrilled: “The fact that we managed to do what we did is really crazy,” he said. Now the Gladbachers had to believe in it too. Robin Hack initially gave the guests the lead in the 8th minute. But it wasn’t enough for more. “It’s really difficult to find words right now. This is extremely disappointing and extremely painful,” said Gladbach’s captain Julian Weigl on ZDF.
In front of 15,903 spectators in the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion, Amine Naifi (11th) and Kai Brünker (90th 3) scored the goals in stoppage time for the outsider, who will receive a bonus of around 3.45 million euros for progressing. The Saarlanders have already earned more than six million euros in the current competition and can continue to dream of cup success. Robin Hack initially gave the guests the lead in the 8th minute. The next opponent has already been decided: the duel with second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern will be for the final ticket in Berlin on April 2nd (8:45 p.m.).
The Saarbrücken fans sent their team into this game with an impressive choreography. However, in a lively opening quarter of an hour, the guests initially became dangerous. The Bundesliga team took the lead after just eight minutes. Marcel Gaus underestimated a ball that Gladbach’s Neuhaus played high to Franck Honorat and thus essentially initiated the Gladbach attack, which Hack successfully completed.
However, the Saarlanders were not impressed by this mood killer. The answer came just three minutes later from Naifi, who converted a rebound from Ko Itakura from almost 16 meters to equalize. Both teams started offensively, with Gladbach in particular repeatedly appearing dangerous in the third division team’s penalty area in the first half. In the 18th minute, Lukas Boeder saved on the line, then Hack had another chance for the guests to take the lead.
The longer the game lasted, the more the FCS withdrew. Gladbach had control of the ball, but without profiting from it. However, against increasingly defensive Saarbrücken, the dominant guests lacked ideas and penetration.
Nothing changed after the break. The constant rain also made the opening of the game more difficult because the water was increasingly collecting on the grass and the ball was sometimes difficult to control. Before throw-ins, the ball had to be partially dried with towels handed out by the ball boys.
In a duel that was now becoming more and more competitive, the spectators hardly saw any shots on goal or dangerous scenes – until the celebrated winning goal in stoppage time.
