dpa
Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen have added the German Cup title to their Bundesliga triumph and completed their maiden domestic double with a 1-0 win against second division team Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
Granit Xhaka scored the winner in the 16th minute with a stunning long-distance shot after a sloppy clearance from the Kaiserslautern defence.
“I’m proud and happy for the players. It’s completely deserved,” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said.
“Tonight I will drink a German beer.” Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich said it was a “great, great feeling,” to lift the trophy.
“This moment, when you lift the trophy, it’s simply beautiful.” Leverkusen were down to 10 men since the 44th minute as Odilon Kossounou received a second yellow card for a foul on Boris Tomiak.
But Kaiserslautern weren’t powerful enough to capitalize on their numerical superiority, despite an incredible support from their travelling fans.
“Even though we had one more player on the pitch, that makes no difference against this team,” Kaiserslautern coach Friedhelm Funkel said.
Funkel’s future at the club, that spent the second division season fighting against relegation, is unsure. But he said the Cup final might have not been his last game with Kaiserslautern. “I would like to somehow maybe keep it going”
This is Leverkusen’s second triumph in the Cup after they took the trophy for the first time in 1993. The win comes just three days after the team led by Alonso was defeated 3-0 by Atalanta in the Europa League final.
Kaiserslautern had the first big chance of the game in the fifth minute, but goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky stretched out his arm to deny Daniel Hanslik’s effort.
It took them a while but Leverkusen started finding spaces in the Kaiserslautern defence. In the 15th, Florian Wirtz aimed for the goal from short distance, but keeper Julian Krahl made a stunning save.
Jeremie Frimpong’s header in the rebound went wide.
But the German champions broke the deadlock just a minute later. Ben Zolinski tried to clear the ball away from the box but his sloppy pass turned into an assist for Xhaka, who sent a furious shot into the net from long distance.
Leverkusen got close to the second in the 27th as Alejandro Grimaldo’s cross became a dangerous goal chance and the ball went just wide off the post.
