Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second-division Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) and secure the club’s first domestic double.
Leverkusen won the Bundesliga unbeaten, a historic feat. The only blip on the record of Xabi Alonso’s team this season was losing the Europa League final to Atalanta 3-0 on Wednesday in Dublin. That ended Leverkusen’s record 51-game unbeaten run across all competitions. It was their only loss in 53 games this season.
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This was Leverkusen’s second German Cup win after their maiden victory back in 1993.
“In the end, to win like that meant we showed spirit, we fought for the fans for the club,” Alonso said. “It is huge success to win the double. We will remember this in the future.”
At Berlin’s Olympiastadion, which will host the Euro 2024 final in July, Leverkusen took the lead with Granit Xhaka‘s 20-metre missile in the 16th minute.
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They controlled the tempo even after they were reduced to 10 men following Odilon Kossounou‘s second booking a minute before half-time.
Kaiserslautern rarely threatened after the break, with Leverkusen…
