Bayer Leverkusen only has eyes for cup opponents VfB Stuttgart. At least officially, no one in the Rhineland is yet thinking about the Bundesliga summit against FC Bayern Munich.
“We know about Stuttgart’s qualities, we have to give it our all. That’s the only game that counts,” said sports director Simon Rolfes before the quarter-finals in the DFB Cup on Tuesday (8:45 p.m./ARD/Sky). against the strong Swabians.
In the 2-0 (1-0) win at Darmstadt 98 on Saturday, the still unbeaten league leaders did their job, and the freestyle will follow against Stuttgart and on Saturday (6:30 p.m./Sky) against Bayern.
“As a footballer, you want to play these games. It will be a week that shows the direction. We definitely want to get through to the next round in the cup and then comes the big game against Bayern, where we want to give something to our fans,” said midfield veteran Granit Xhaka.
For Bayer coach Xabi Alonso, who played for Munich between 2014 and 2017, the cup match is also the only priority for now. That is the absolute focus, said the Spaniard after the Darmstadt game.
Bayer Leverkusen: Mature performance against Darmstadt
“The cup is a special competition. We know that if we reach the next round, we will have taken another step towards Berlin,” said the 42-year-old. “We have a top opponent. For that we need our best performance and a high level. Only then will we look to Munich.”
A solid performance was enough for his team against bravely fighting Darmstadt players. “We played in a controlled manner. It was a good and serious performance. The attitude was right. I’m very satisfied,” said Alonso. Thanks to a brace from Nathan Tella (33rd/52nd minute), the Werkself maintained their lead in the table with a two-point lead over FC Bayern, who beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1.
“I am proud of many things that we have developed together,” Rolfes praised the team for their mature performance in front of 17,810 spectators. Xhaka, who would have been suspended for the top game if he had received a yellow card, also received praise. “Of course there was a risk. But he played very controlled and intelligently. In the end it was the right decision,” said Alonso.
Xhaka himself noted that he had become more mature and was pleased with the coach’s appreciation and trust. “There were discussions with the coach during the week about whether I should play or not. I told him that I would be careful. Thank God it worked,” reported the Swiss international.
As always, he was a leader and a thinker, but he held back in the duels. “The team made it easy for me. So I didn’t have to get into many duels,” he said.
Leverkusen youngster Wirtz: “We want to get to the final everywhere”
His leadership qualities and Florian Wirtz’s wit and strokes of genius will also be important in the upcoming brilliant games. Wirtz, who was awarded “Goal of the Year 2023” after the game in Darmstadt, was proud of his first gold medal of the season. If he has his way, more will follow.
“I am a very ambitious player and try to win every game and every competition. We will do our best in all competitions. We want to get to the final everywhere and last until the end in the Bundesliga,” said the 20-year-old.
He and his colleagues have chances to do this in the DFB Cup, the championship and the Europa League, where Bayer reached the round of 16.
The people of Munich should see this as a declaration of war, and the wishes of the Darmstadt coach will probably only spur on what feels like the eternal German champions even more.
“We probably lost against the new German champions. I wish it so much for them because they have an incredible team,” said Lieberknecht. Alonso acknowledged the compliments with a slight smile and promised: “We’ll try to do our job and see what comes out in the end.”