RB Leipzig 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
(Nkunku 71′, Szoboszlai 85′)
Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, 1. FC Köln, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke 04 and now RB Leipzig.
Die Roten Bullen joined esteemed company as they became only the sixth club in the Bundesliga era to retain the German Cup title courtesy of a 2-0 win against Frankfurt, who achieved the feat themselves in 1975.
“It’s a final. It’s the cup. It’s our second title. We’ve been here so often, it’s just great when you win here,” said Konrad Laimer talking to German broadcaster ZDF.
Tale of two strikers
Making their fourth final appearance in five seasons, Leipzig are no strangers to the title-winning demands born of a trip to Berlin’s Olympiastadion. After beating Freiburg on penalties to win their first piece of major silverware last season, all the talk in the Leipzig camp was of it being the first of many.
Just like last season, they played against a raucous back drop that was heavily in their opponent’s favor. On the pitch, it was a battle of two form French strikers.
Frankfurt’s Randall Kolo Muani proved too hot to handle on more than one occasion, striking the side-netting with his side’s best chance of a feisty first-half. It was a similar story for counterpart Nkunku as the Bundesliga’s joint-top scorer of the season fired just wide under pressure leaving the encounter stuck in a stalemate at the halfway stage.
Nkunku’s fitting farewell
In a game that was crying out for one moment of magic to separate the sides though, it instead came courtesy of a cruel twist of fate produced by Leipzig’s magic man.
Nkunku, who netted the equalizer to send last season’s final to extra-time and eventually penalties, this time scored the opener thanks to an effort that took two wicked deflections on its way past Kevin Trapp.
While nothing has been ‘officially’ confirmed, Nkunku’s impending summer move to join Premier League side Chelsea is one of the worst kept secrets in German football after Leipzig head coach Marco Rose talked about the Frenchman making the most of his “last few weeks” with the club.
He certainly made the most of what could be his final appearance as he added to his earlier goal by providing the assist that allowed Dominik Szoboszlai to put the game beyond doubt, securing Leipzig back-to-back German Cup titles.
“When you win something like this, you have to celebrate and we will tonight,” admitted Laimer.
“Not expecting to stake claim as No1”
Still seen as the most controversial teams in German football, the club’s hope is that adding to their trophy cabinet will add more legitimacy to their place in the pyramid.
“It’s incredible, in five years we’ve been in four finals and have been able to defend the title, which is something not a lot of sides have done,” said Red Bull’s managing director Oliver Mintzlaff. “In our club’s young history, it’s makes us incredibly proud.”
“Bayern are German champions and Dortmund fought for the title until the final day. We aren’t expecting ourselves to stake a claim as the new number one, but we’ve shown that we can win and defend titles, which makes us proud.”
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