At 10:40 p.m. a huge outcry rang out from the Bürrig district of Leverkusen to the world, and it is not impossible that Xabi Alonso, the smart and actually not loud Bayer 04 coach, contributed a few decibels. The Spanish coach celebrated the final whistle from referee Daniel Schlager with a jubilant fist that discharged joy and tension into the night sky. Bayer 04 had prevailed 3-2 in the quarter-final cup game against VfB Stuttgart after being behind twice. Defender Jonathan Tah scored the decisive goal in the 90th minute in a game that left it open for a long time as to who would finish as winner or loser would. VfB was a largely equal opponent, but Bayer was slightly better, which made the victory seem deserved.
“It feels brutally good. Especially in a game like this against an opponent like that who caused us a lot of problems. That gives us a lot of energy and positive hope for everything that comes next,” said Tah on ARD. On Saturday, Leverkusen will host FC Bayern in the Bundesliga, now unbeaten in 30 competitive games this season.
The audience in the Bayarena, who were used to success, saw unusual images during the first half. You could see Xabi Alonso standing on the pitch like someone who doesn’t understand what’s happening there. Did he speak Chinese in the team meeting before the game? This Bayer 04 was only remotely similar to the Bayer 04 that he had raised since August to become the league leaders and the leading cultural institution in German football.
Instead of letting the ball circulate in the usual quick passing sequences, Alonso’s players got caught up in duels, enticed into solo runs and bad passes. Granit Xhaka’s organizing hand reached into nothingness. At times the sovereign in the Bayer midfield seemed a little at a loss. However, the people of Stuttgart had no small part in the complicated Leverkusen lecture. They positioned themselves compactly in their half, a back four in front of a back five, and offered concentrated resistance. When Robert Andrich roughly knocked his VfB colleague Atakan Karazor off his feet, it looked more like a signal to his teammates to finally wake up – but it was still the wrong signal. The yellow card forced the fighter Andrich to be careful from then on.
The general uncertainty did not subside when VfB took the lead in the twelfth minute. Once again there was a mistake in Bayer’s system: Edmond Tapsoba let Waldemar Anton escape as if he had gotten lost in the forest while chasing.
Bayer got stronger over time, but VfB didn’t let the home team get up to speed; the practiced playful dynamics only flashed in a few moments. Once Patrik Schick tested the goalkeeper Alexander Nübel from close range, another time VfB was lucky when Hiroki Ito tackled Jeremie Frimpong too late in the penalty area and referee Daniel Schlager denied the possible penalty. But the Stuttgart team weren’t content with disrupting the flow of the opposing team either. However, Karazor missed the opportunity to make it 2-0 when he returned the ball mistakenly given by Cup goalkeeper Matej Kovar with a harmless shot.
Andrich continues to play yellow-red-threatened – and scores a dream goal
Andrich also entered the pitch in the second half; a substitution would not have been implausible due to the yellow card and some deficiencies in the game. But Xabi Alonso was soon able to pat himself on the back, because Andrich equalized with a dream goal long-range shot (50th) – only to give Stuttgart the next lead less than ten minutes later with a loss of the ball in the penalty area (58th). Chris Führich, who otherwise had a tough evening, skilfully took advantage of his chance.
But VfB didn’t manage to build on their lead into a game that would have overwhelmed Leverkusen. Florian Wirtz, who was constantly traveling to every square meter of the pitch to get the game going, had something against it. His pass from his own half reached Amine Adli, who had just been substituted and was now hopelessly running away, and Nübel’s unplaced shot slipped into the net to make it 2-2 (66th).
Jonathan Tah and Granit Xhaka (above) celebrate after winning the quarter-finals.
(Photo: Martin Meissner/AP)
Bayer had more to offer in the final quarter than the gradually tiring VfB, but the big opportunities no longer arose. It took until the 90th minute for Jonathan Tah to score the final header with great timing. The template, of course, came from Florian Wirtz, loosely from the ankle and precisely to the point as programmed.