Third-tier Arminia Bielefeld have stunned reigning Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal champions Bayer Leverkusen by beating Xabi Alonso‘s side 2-1 in the semi-finals of the cup at the Schuco Arena this evening.
Leverkusen were the clear favourites to retain the title they won last season, when they completed an entire domestic campaign unbeaten, beating second-tier Kaiserslautern in the final at the Olympiastadion.
However, despite being priced as high as 10/1 before kickoff, Michel Kniat‘s Bielefeld side have caused one of the competition’s biggest-ever upsets to reach the final in May, becoming just the fourth club from the 3.Liga ever to do so.
Bielefeld can now sit back, relax, and watch on to tomorrow night’s second semi-final to discover who they will face in Berlin next month, when RB Leipzig travel to Stuttgart.
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David slays Goliath in almight DFB-Pokal upset
Jonathan Tah had given the Bundesliga side an early lead, but Bielefeld were on level terms within three minutes, when 20-year-old Marius Worl beat Lukas Hradecky in the visiting goal.
The underdogs even led before the interval, when Maximilian Grosser converted to turn the tie on its head in first-half injury time, leaving Leverkusen with an uphill task in the second 45.
Bielefeld made relatively light work of keeping Leverkusen at bay too, because a very scrappy second-half saw the visitors generate an xG of just 0.12, registering only one shot on target, falling short of reaching a second-straight final.
It has been a sensational journey for Kniat’s men, because they had already beaten top-flight clubs Union Berlin, Freiburg and Werder Bremen before tonight’s success.
That makes Bielefeld the first club in Pokal history from the third tier or lower to knock out four Bundesliga clubs in one campaign, and they will now have to overcome another in the showpiece occasion next month.
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Bielefeld out to end 120-year wait
The final will take place less than three weeks after Bielefeld will celebrate their 120th anniversary following their foundation in May 1905, and there would be no better way to celebrate that than by winning a first major honour.
Bielefeld have only won regional and lower-league honours in their long history, as well as the West German Cup which served essentially as qualification for the Pokal over half a century ago, but now the club has the chance to win the real thing for the first time.
No team from outside the top flight had made it to the final since Duisburg in 2011, but after second-tier Kaiserslautern reached it last season, the Olympiastadion will now welcome a third-tier club to play in its showpiece event for the first time in 24 years, after Union Berlin achieved that feat in 2001.
Leverkusen will now more than likely end the season trophyless, following their exit from the Champions League, and the fact Bayern Munich are six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
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