After the unforgettable (and unbeatable) season, Bayer Leverkusen aimed to do a triplet and finish the season in unforgettable fashion. The first Bundesliga title ever was won easily, and the first Europa League trophy looked so easy to win, but outsider Atalanta not only eliminated Liverpool, but Leverkusen too, thanks to the Nigerian’s wonder Ademola Lookman and his hat-trick in a 3-0 final win. And now, Xabi Alonso’s team must lick their wounds in Gemany, where the battle for the last remaining trophy will begin. They are up against even bigger outsider than Atalanta – Kaiserslautern.🚨🇩🇪 If Kaiserslautern win the DFB Pokal against Bayer Leverkusen today, will earn automatic qualification for the 2024/25 Europa League. 😳Reminder: they are a 2nd tier German side who finished 13th this season. It would be an incredible story. pic.twitter.com/HYwm0h1kl7— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) May 25, 2024 In a situation where money talks (even in Germany) and Leverkusen made their name due to an ownership from the biggest pharmaceutics company (Bayer), Xavi Alonso’s team is the bigger favorite than former multiply Bundesliga and Cup winner. Kaiserslautern are four time Bundesliga champions (1951, 1953, 1990–91, 1997–98) and two time DPF Pokal winners (1989–90, 1995–96), compared to Bayer’s one title in both competitions. They played 44 years in Bundesliga, a competition which they co-founded, but were relegated in 1996 even thou they won the Cup that season. They bounced straight back up under Otto Rehhagel and went on to stun the footballing world by winning the Bundesliga in 1997/98 – the first and only time a promoted club has gone on to be champions, having topped the table from Matchday 4 and boasting a young Michael Ballack in the side. They were relegated again in 2012 and haven’t been back since. They even went down to the third division, and came back to Bundesliga 2 in 2018. They nearly escaped to be relegated again this season, and narrowly managed to stay on the last day of the season.Alonso: Dublin is in the past, our hunger is even biggerBut they excelled in the DFB Pokal this season. Although they have managed only two clean sheets all season in Bundesliga 2, they’ve recorded three in five in the cup, having conceded only three goals and have not trailed once. Coach Friedhelm Funkel will leave the club after this game, so he wants to go with a ‘bang’, but it’s not that easy. His team are playing aghast the Bundesliga champions after all. Bundesliga Player of the Season Florian Wirtz will almost certainly start, while Rookie of the Season Victor Boniface could get the nod over Patrik Schick up front. Jonas Hofmann and Amine Adli will compete for the last spot in the front three. Josip Stanišić is one of several options alongside Jonathan Tah in defense and he will be back in Munich after this, since he was loaned to Bayer by Bayern.GERMAN CUP – DFP POKALFinalSaturday21:00: (14.0) K’lautern (8.00) Leverkusen (1.20)***odds are subject to change***
