Bayer Leverkusen Eliminate Dortmund from DFB-Pokal

Bayer Leverkusen defeated Borussia Dortmund to advance from the last 16 stage of the German Cup, securing a 1-0 victory on the road on Tuesday with a lone goal from Ibrahim Maza.

The 34th-minute effort from Maza positioned the 2024 champions for the win and delivered swift payback against Dortmund, after suffering a 2-1 loss at home in the Bundesliga only three days earlier.

Maza described the goal to Sky Germany as "a bit of instinct and a bit of luck too, but thats part of it, thats normal in football".

Leverkusen will progress to the quarter-finals alongside RB Leipzig, who triumphed 3-1 over Magdeburg at home, as well as Hertha Berlin and St Pauli, both of whom secured victories earlier that Tuesday.

Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton, speaking to Sky Germany, expressed disappointment over the "incredibly brutal" loss, stating his team would "need a day or two to process" it and that "we set ourselves high goals and we wanted to win this competition".

The Bundesliga rivals Dortmund and Leverkusen have clashed 109 times across various competitions since the early 1950s, yet this marked their first encounter in the German Cup.

Dortmund appealed for an early penalty that was dismissed when ex-Liverpool player Jarell Quansah appeared to foul Carney Chukwuemeka in the penalty area.

Having previously scored in Leverkusens surprising 2-0 Champions League victory over Manchester City, the 20-year-old Maza weaved past a sluggish Dortmund backline to fire his team ahead.

Leverkusen thought they had doubled their lead on the hour through Martin Terrier, following a sequence initiated by Maza, but the goal was ruled out due to a marginal offside decision.

Dortmunds Karim Adeyemi had a late opportunity to equalise in added time, yet he directed a header just wide of the upright.

In other action, Christoph Baumgartner netted a brace as RB Leipzig overturned a deficit to defeat second-division strugglers Magdeburg 3-1.

Magdeburg, rooted to the bottom of the 2. Bundesliga, opened the scoring via a Silas Gnaka spot-kick.

Leipzig responded with a stunning long-distance strike from Antonio Nusa and extended their lead to 2-1 just before the break courtesy of Baumgartner.

Baumgartner added his second goal shortly after halftime, assisted by Nusa, ensuring the two-time cup champions advanced.

Earlier that day, St Pauli shook off their Bundesliga woes with a 2-1 success at three-time champions Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Despite dropping their previous nine league games, strikes from Martijn Kaars and Louis Oppie around a headed equaliser by Gladbachs Haris Tabakovic propelled the Hamburg outfit into the last eight.

At the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Hertha Berlin crushed 2024 runners-up Kaiserslautern 6-1, highlighted by 16-year-old Kennet Eichhorn becoming the youngest ever scorer in the tournaments history.

Record 20-time winners Bayern Munich face Union Berlin on Wednesday, while defending champions Stuttgart travel to Bochum.