First trophy under coach Rose
RB Leipzig successfully defended its title in the DFB Cup. The “Red Bulls” defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 (0-0) in the final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening. The most valuable professional in the squad, with a market value of 80 million euros, Christopher Nkunku, put the Saxons on the road to victory in what was probably his last appearance for Leipzig with his goal in the 71st minute before Dominik Szoboszlai (85th) increased. RB triumphed for the second time in the club’s short history in this competition, and it was the first trophy in Germany for coach Marco Rose.
The SGE, where coach Oliver Glasner played his last game on the sidelines, missed the sixth cup success after 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988 and 2018.
In front of 74,322 fans in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, Frankfurt’s Evan Ndicka unluckily deflected Nkunku’s shot to make it 0-1. Nkunku showed good vision for the second goal. The French international is set to move to Chelsea after the season, with no official confirmation yet. His goal and his assist were enough for a dreamy farewell in the by no means high-class final.
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In the emotionally charged duel between Hessian tradition and Saxon modernity, it was mainly the Eintracht fans who created the final atmosphere. Hours before the game, tens of thousands of supporters gathered in the center of Berlin and were prepared for a glorious evening by President Peter Fischer.
Of course, the celebrities could be seen on the grandstand. National coach Hansi Flick took a seat next to DFB sports director Rudi Völler and EM tournament director Philipp Lahm. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a fervent Eintracht fan, was present, as was Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
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While the sympathies were clearly distributed in the ranks, the main actors below offered an intense and balanced game. Leipzig was granted the higher ball possession, but Frankfurt countered with an enormous willingness to run, impressive compactness and a committed shifting. Timo Werner (4th), who twisted his ankle in the final training session and was questionable for the starting XI, had the lead early on after a counterattack. But his graduation was just as pressureless as unplaced.
On the other hand, Eintracht also had a goal in the first section. The enormously present Randal Kolo Muani (16th) only hit the side netting after a wonderful individual action. The attacker courted by Bayern Munich was initially the most conspicuous player. Great things were also expected of Leipzig’s Nkunku. But the Bundesliga’s top scorer was initially completely up in the air, repeatedly getting stuck on Frankfurt’s 39-year-old defense chief Makoto Hasebe.
The second period started a few minutes late as supporters from both clubs emptied their own pyrotechnics stocks at the end of the season. Multiple calls from the stadium announcer to refrain from the actions were consistently ignored. Both clubs should therefore face a high fine from the DFB.
The game continued to be exciting and intense – but it wasn’t top-class by any means. The trainers Rose and Glasner stood almost constantly on the edge of their coaching zone, feeding their professionals with instructions. After a good hour, birthday boy Mario Götze had a flash of inspiration, he sent Kolo Muani – but he decided against a shot in the penalty area and his pass got stuck.
Rose was the first coach to react, bringing in Yussuf Poulsen for Werner. The Leipzig Cup specialist (12 goals/16 assists in 32 games) should finally cause more unrest in the Frankfurt defense. But Götze had the first big chance (64th): RB goalkeeper Janis Blaswich just saved the volley from the ex-world champion for a corner. Glasner now also changed the statics of the Frankfurt game, bringing in the more offensive Jesper Lindstrom for Sebastian Rode. In the same minute, Nkunku scored. Frankfurt pushed for the equalizer, Leipzig successfully countered.
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