Wolfsburg Knocks Out Reigning Champions Leipzig from German Cup In a stunning turn of events, Leipzig’s quest for a third consecutive title came to an abrupt end as they were eliminated in the second round of the German Cup. Vaclav Cerny’s first-half strike secured Wolfsburg’s place in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Wolfsburg initiated the match with a burst of energy. Within the first 24 seconds, Tiago Tomas came close to scoring after Mattias Svanberg intercepted a pass from Leipzig’s David Raum, as reported by Xinhua.
However, Wolfsburg’s new summer signing, Cerny, seized an opportunity presented by Tomas and netted his first goal for the Wolves just 14 minutes into the game.
Despite Leipzig maintaining greater possession of the ball, they struggled to break through Wolfsburg’s resilient defense. The hosts came close to extending their lead 10 minutes later, but Cerny’s attempt was deftly thwarted by Castello Lukeba.
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Leipzig’s first notable attempt materialized after halftime when Raum’s deflected cross struck the left crossbar a mere two minutes into the second half.
Leipzig’s fortunes took a downturn when Yussuf Poulsen, their striker, received his second yellow card of the night and was sent off in the 56th minute. Despite being reduced to 10 men, Marco Rose’s team failed to capitalize on opportunities, allowing Wolfsburg to preserve their slender lead until the final whistle.
“Being a goal behind and losing a player doesn’t make things any easier. I believe we played well despite being outnumbered. It’s disappointing to exit the competition this way, especially considering that Wolfsburg didn’t dominate us,” commented Rose.
Niko Kovac, Wolfsburg’s coach, reflected on the match, saying, “It was a typical German Cup battle. Leipzig is a formidable opponent. It wasn’t a walk in the park for us. We had to keep our defense solid and thwart Leipzig’s chances.”
In other matches, Stuttgart advanced to the next round with a 1-0 victory thanks to Deniz Undav’s match-winning goal, handing struggling Union Berlin their 11th consecutive loss. Meanwhile, Borussia Monchengladbach cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Heidenheim, with Jordan Siebatcheu scoring twice. Additionally, second-division side Kaiserslautern pulled off an upset by defeating Cologne 3-2.
