Werder Bremen prevailed in a thrilling DFB-Pokal quarter-final meeting against Bayer Leverkusen, winning 1-3 to book their place in the final four.
The beginning was that of a typical cup tie, with neither side willing to commit to an overly attacking games. That being said, the two teams were keen move forward when possible. Werder had a powerful, swerving free-kick well held by Bernd Leno, while Karim Bellarabi fired into the feet of Felix Wiedwald at the other end.
Jannik Vestergaard twice had good chances for Bremen, but his defensive partner would play a crucial part in the breakthrough. Alejandro Galvez fouled a goalward bound Stefan Kießling, leaving Wolfgang Stark no choice but to award a penalty. Javier Hernandez, the Bundesliga's most in-form striker, confidently dispatched the spot-kick to give his side the lead.
Bartels begins the fightback
However, Bremen were not going to give up and continued to come back at their hosts. Fin Bartels burst clear down the left and tried to cut the ball back to Levin Öztunali in the middle, only to see Wendell arrive at the vital moment to clear the ball from his toes.
Bartels would be involved again soon after, though it would yield much better results. A free-kick towards the back of the box was met by the former St. Pauli midfielder, who smashed the ball back into the danger area. Santiago Garcia was quickest to react, deflecting the ball into the top corner past the wrong-footed Leno to deservedly draw the visitors level.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts before the break, as Werder went ahead. Bartels was through on goal, only to be hacked down by Wendell. The defender couldn't repeat his previous heroics and Stark compounded matters by producing a red card. Claudio Pizarro was afforded the chance to put the Northerners ahead, and duly obliged with a strong finish from 12 yards.
Not the start to the second half Leverkusen needed
Despite the fantastically frantic pace at which the second half began, Leverkusen were struggling to cope with Bremen's counter attack. Bartels' importance involvement remained in the second half, bringing the best out of Leno low to his left. It looked certain to be an easy tap-in for Pizzaro, but André Ramalho made a crucial clearance.
The attacking threat from the home side was minimal at best, even though they had some of the most talented players on the pitch. Whether it was a lack of concentration or otherwise, that much was unclear. Hakan Calhanoglu's first major involvement came in the form of a booking, somewhat summing up the evening so far.
Bremen complete smash and grab late on
Roger Schmidt and his side's hurried approach eventually came back to bite them, as a speedy breakaway cost them any chances of a comeback. Pizarro started a counter inside his own half, before Öztunali took over. He sped past several defenders before squaring to the Peruvian forward. His shot was blocked by Jonathan Tah, but fell perfectly to Florian Grillitsch and he gleefully tapped in to book Werder's place in the final four.