Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller in action with SSV Ulm 1846 Fussball’s Niklas Kolbe
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched second-tier Ulm 4-0 in the German Cup on Friday (August 16, 2024) but three other Bundesliga teams all needed extra time or penalties to overcome lower-tier opposition on a night of near upsets.

Thomas Muller scored twice in the first 15 minutes for Bayern before Kingsley Coman and substitute Harry Kane added two more late on to give new coach Vincent Kompany a win in his first competitive game in charge.

But Hoffenheim, St Pauli and Mainz all had to work a lot harder before booking their place in the next round.

Hoffenheim struggled most at third-tier Wurzburger Kickers.

Hoffenheim went behind after 11 minutes but an own goal eight minutes later took the game to extra time. Wurzburg led again after scoring in the 100th minute, but Marius Bülter equalized for Hoffenheim in the 107th to take the game to penalty kicks.

Wurzburg captain Dominik Meisel was the only player to miss from the spot as Hoffenheim won the shootout 5-3.

Fourth-tier Hallescher was seconds away from embarrassing last season’s second-division champion St Pauli.

Hallescher led 2-1 until Adam Dzwigala equalized in the 94th. Substitute Lars Ritzka scored the winner for the Hamburg club in the 110th minute to give it a 3-2 victory.

Mainz recovered from going 1-0 down against third-tier Wehen Wiesbaden and needed extra-time goals from captain Jonathan Burkardt and midfielder Nadiem Amiri to clinch a 3-1 win.

Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka celebrates with team mates after the German cup match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Fortuna Duesseldorf in Leverkusen, Germany on April 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Bayer Leverkusen is on the verge of a historic league and cup double in Germany after sweeping aside local rival Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-0 in the German Cup semifinals.

Florian Wirtz scored twice on Wednesday as Xabi Alonso’s team, which also leads the Bundesliga by 13 points, marked its 40th game of the season unbeaten in all competitions.

Leverkusen faces off in the May 25 cup final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion against second-tier Kaiserslautern, which ended the surprise run of third-division Saarbruecken with a 2-0 win on Tuesday.

On a wet night, Leverkusen took the lead in the seventh minute when Jeremie Frimpong seized on a loose ball at the far post and lofted a shot over goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier.

That forced Fortuna to open up its play in search of a goal, and Leverkusen promptly responded with a searing counterattack.

Three passes took the ball from Leverkusen’s touchline to the back of Fortuna’s net as Amine Adli made it 2-0. Soon it was three as Kastenmeier gave the ball away to Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich, who set up Wirtz to score.

Wirtz scored another from the penalty spot after a handball, before Leverkusen celebrated the return of striker Victor Boniface, back in action for the club for the first time since December after he was injured while training with Nigeria ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Leverkusen had a further boost last week when Alonso said he would stay on as coach amid speculation linking him with Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Since then, Leverkusen has won both its games and seen Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel concede the Bundesliga title race.

Fortuna, which is pushing for promotion from the second division, was a heavy underdog ahead of the game, even before its star midfielder Ao Tanaka was ruled out.

The Japan international had to go into urgent surgery to remove his appendix and gave his teammates a pregame thumbs-up gesture from a hospital bed.