Leverkusen (dpa) – The soccer players of 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam challenge series winners VfL Wolfsburg in the final of the DFB Cup. The third-placed Bundesliga team beat seventh-placed Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinals 4-3 on penalties.
After 90 and 120 minutes it was 1-1 (0-0), Leverkusen had already led 2-0 on penalties. For the first time since 2015, Turbine reached the final, which will be held in Cologne on May 28 this year.
Overall, Potsdam is in the final for the eighth time, three wins between 2004 and 2006 followed four defeats in a row. Final opponents Wolfsburg won the cup seven times in a row. Wolfsburg had won 3-1 in the first semi-final on Sunday at long-time rivals FC Bayern Munich.
For Bayer, meanwhile, the dream of participating in the final for the first time burst in a balanced game. In front of 2,000 spectators, including the head of the Leverkusen club Fernando Carro and the injured national player Florian Wirtz, whose sister Juliane plays for the Bayer women, Dina Blagojević, who came on as a substitute six minutes earlier, gave Bayer the lead with a penalty kick (66′). Ex-national player Isabel Kerschowski, who was also substituted on, equalized with a hand penalty (83rd).