The first red card in Manuel Neuer’s long career paves the way: Bayer Leverkusen defeated Bayern Munich in a hard-fought round of 16 from the DFB Cup.

Bayer Leverkusen knocked FC Bayern Munich out of the DFB Cup with a 1-0 (0-0) win – meaning the record champions were eliminated before the semi-finals for the fifth time in a row. Substitute Nathan Tella scored the decisive goal in the top duel in the round of 16 on Tuesday (69′).

The Munich team had to play outnumbered for a long time after Manuel Neuer (17th, emergency brake) was sent off, but they still kept the party balanced for a long time. “It is bitter and of course the early red card in the game has an impact,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany in the Sportschau. “But what I have to say: What the boys have today was really well done in terms of character. We also had opportunities to score goals.”

Bayern have now been waiting for a win against Leverkusen for five games, who achieved a big win in Munich without any shine. “Even with one man we didn’t do it perfectly, but it was effective,” said Leverkusen’s defense chief Jonathan Tah in the first.

Manuel Neuer valued himself

Bayern initially made life difficult for themselves. Dayot Upamecano played a bad pass in his own penalty area in the 11th minute, allowing Florian Wirtz to take a free shot from the edge of the penalty area – the ball just missed the left post.

A few minutes later, Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah hit a long pass into the path of the speedy Jeremie Frimpong. Neuer, in his usual style, wanted to clear well in front of the goal, but misjudged and checked Frimpong violently. Konrad Laimer discovered himself as a defender in the immediate vicinity and could probably have cleared the ball. “I called from the side, but it was already too late,” Kompany said about Neuer’s trip.

Peretz replaces Neuer, Sané has to go down

Referee Harm Osmers decided on a straight red for Neuer. In his 867th game in professional football, the long-time national goalkeeper was thrown off the field for the first time. “The expulsion is uncontroversial, although unfortunate,” Nagelsmann said at halftime in the first. “You’re always smarter afterwards.”

Tah: “That’s exactly what we planned”

Tah said in the first that his long pass was part of Leverkusen’s match plan. “That’s exactly what we planned. We wanted our outside players, in this case it was Jerry Frimpong, to keep making these deep runs. We didn’t want to give Bayern the feeling that they could squeeze us.”

Kompany brought Leroy Sané off the field and brought on substitute goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. The 24-year-old Israeli made his third appearance for Bayern.

Bayern with more chances

Bayern then tried to make up for their lack of numbers by increasing their willingness to run – and were successful. Even without the injured Harry Kane, for whom Michael Olise played up front, the moderators created five good chances to score before the break. Bayer, on the other hand, struggled in the heated game, but also had opportunities through Frimpong and Florian Wirtz.

For the second half, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso brought on Patrik Schick for Robert Andrich, having previously done without a real penalty area striker. However, Schick had to leave the field just 15 minutes later with pain in his calf muscle. Tella came in for him.

Grimaldo served Tella

Furthermore, the Leverkusen team didn’t know what to do with the outnumbered situation, and the spectators didn’t see any real chances to score for a long time. The high-class technicians Wirtz and Jamal Musiala also wore themselves out in duels and were only able to produce a few highlights – with Leverkusen’s Wirtz being the more noticeable of the two national players.

In the 69th minute, Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo hit a perfect cross from the left side. At the six-yard box, Tella had an unexpected amount of space between Min-jae Kim and Alphonso Davies and had no trouble taking the lead.

Bayern then tried everything, but only managed to get a clear finish through Olise shortly before the final whistle. Leverkusen had no chances, but Tellas was enough to advance to the quarter-finals. The duels between the last eight teams will take place in February 2025, the draw on December 15th.