Tough cup victory: Bayer Leverkusen fights against Jena to round two

Tough cup victory: Bayer Leverkusen fights against Jena to round two

Bayer Leverkusen, the past winner of the DFB Cup, has difficulty in the first round of the competition. The team of coach Xabi Alonso survived their match against the regional league team FC Carl Zeiss Jena with a narrow 1-0. The encounter took place in the Ernst-Abbe sports field in front of around 15,000 enthusiastic fans, where the expectations of the defending champion were high.

The Leverkuseners, who went into play as a clear favorite, could not convince. Despite the huge pressure and history as a double winner, the team was extremely difficult. In particular, the offensive started slowly and far from presented itself at the level that one would expect from a master. This was not only visible on the less convincing degrees, but also on the mocking comments of the spectators, they sang: "And you want to be a German master?"

difficult first half

The first half was characterized by a solid defensive performance of the Jena, who are unbeaten in the Regionalliga northeast. Jena had obviously decided not to concede an early goal, which they managed very well up to the 52nd minute. A particularly dangerous moment for Leverkusen was a post shot from Amine Adli in the 16th minute, in which the referee's flag was lifted on the basis of an offside position.

The first half concluded with the chance for Jena's striker Cemal Sezer, who scored over the ball in the 42nd minute in front of the goal - a missed opportunity to turn out to be fateful.

After the break, coach Alonso reacted with a change. Alejandro Grimaldo came into play and that should pay off immediately. A precise flank of the Spaniard landed in the penalty area with Jonas Hofmann, who scored the lead by header in the 52nd minute. But Jena was not intimidated and continued to play bravely.

tension until the end

It was remarkable that the regional league showed no respect for the Bundesliga club despite the deficit. Jena Kay Seidemann had the opportunity to achieve the balance in the 65th minute, but the shot was not precise enough.

Alonso reacted to the situation and brought well -known players like Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka to strengthen the offensive. But the biggest chance for Jena even stayed in the 77th minute when Nils Butzen came to the shot after a corner, but did not hit the ball clean. The tension remained up to the last minute when Jena Hamza Muqaj shot about the empty gate in added time.

The narrow victory of Bayer Leverkusen secured them into the second round of the DFB Cup, but the team performance will surely have to be analyzed repeatedly in the coming days. The draw of the next round will take place on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in the Dortmund Football Museum.