Borussia Dortmund has been eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in the round of sixteen by Bayer Leverkusen. The visitors won 1-0 at Dortmund's home ground, avenging their recent Bundesliga defeat. Ibrahim Maza scored the decisive goal in the 34th minute.
Borussia Dortmund suffered its fifth consecutive early exit from the DFB-Pokal. On Tuesday evening, the BVB lost its home match against Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 (0-1). The goal of the day was scored by Ibrahim Maza in the 34th minute, after the Dortmund defense hesitated in their own penalty area, allowing Maza to slot it into the far corner on the rebound.
Just three days earlier, Dortmund had beaten Leverkusen 2-1 in the Bundesliga, but in the cup, both teams continued the low-scoring affair. The hosts responded to the concession with their best phase of the first half, but Karim Adeyemi wasted three chances in a row: A volley slipped away (39th), a weak shot led to a goal-line clearance (40th), and a strike from the edge of the box went wide (42nd).
After the break, Dortmund dominated without seriously threatening Bayer goalkeeper Mark Flekken. A goal by Martin Terrier was disallowed for offside in the 60th minute. Coach Niko Kovač, who surprisingly benched Serhou Guirassy, reacted with a triple substitution in the 67th minute: Guirassy, Julian Brandt, and Maximilian Beier replaced Fábio Silva, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Julian Ryerson. Patrik Schick soon after missed the guests' best chance with a header.
Kovač emphasized before the game on Sky that Guirassy's benching had nothing to do with his refused handshake after being substituted on Saturday: "It has absolutely nothing to do with the backstory; he didn't start in the cup in Frankfurt either." Post-match, Dortmund's Waldemar Anton told Sky: "We had enough chances to score. Unfortunately, we didn't manage it. It's brutally bitter." Captain Emre Can added: "It's insane that we stand here with zero goals." In front of 81,365 spectators, Bayer defended astutely and advances to the quarterfinals.