BIELEFELD, Germany: German Cup holders Bayer Leverkusen suffered a shock 2-1 elimination at Arminia Bielefeld in the semifinals of the competition on Tuesday.
Xabi Alonso’s side were heavily favored to reach their second successive final but were outclassed from start to finish by their underdog opponents.
Jonathan Tah’s 17th-minute goal was canceled out by a Marius Woerl strike for the hosts three minutes later.
Maximilian Grosser’s goal in first-half stoppage time would prove the difference for Bielefeld, who have now beaten four top-division opponents on their way to the final.
Bielefeld, who have never made a German Cup final, became just the fourth third-division team to reach the showpiece event.
Should Bielefeld win in Berlin in May — they will face either RB Leipzig or Stuttgart — the club will be rewarded with a Europa League spot next season.
Home coach Michel Kniat said: “We didn’t need luck at all because we were on the front foot the whole time.”
The coach said he “normally wouldn’t have a drink with the players, but tonight I’ll make an exception,” adding that “nobody will go to sleep in this city tonight.”
Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich said it was “by far our worst game of the season” and added that “Bielefeld deserved the win tonight, which means we did plenty of things wrong.”
Leverkusen coach Alonso came into the game having never lost in 10 matches in the competition and needed just one more victory to beat Louis van Gaal’s all-time record set as Bayern Munich manager.
Everything seemed to go according to plan when Leverkusen took the lead after 17 minutes, Tah tapping in unmarked at the far post.
The hosts hit back almost immediately however, Woerl taking advantage of a sloppy clearance attempt by Piero Hincapie to curl the ball home.
As the half wore on, Leverkusen were unable to make their possession count, with Bielefeld fast and threatening on the counter.
The hosts once again caught Leverkusen napping to take the lead moments before halftime, Grosser hammering in a Louis Oppie free kick from close range.
Bielefeld continued to out-energise their opponents, fighting in the duels and giving Leverkusen few chances to drag themselves back into the game.
Patrick Schick, so often Leverkusen’s late hero over the past two seasons, had a chance to level the scores while unmarked after 81 minutes but hit a header against the post.
This year’s German Cup is one of the more open in recent memory, with recent champions Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt all suffering early eliminations from the competition.
On Wednesday, RB Leipzig play away at Stuttgart in the other semifinal.
Leipzig, who have won two of the past three German Cups, will be managed by interim coach Zsolt Low, who took over after Marco Rose was sacked on Sunday.

LUCKNOW, India: Wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran Singh scored an explosive 69 off 34 balls as Punjab Kings cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday for their second win this IPL.
Punjab chased down the target of 172 set by Lucknow with nearly four overs to spare, and captain Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 52 off 30 balls.
Playing their first home game of the season, Lucknow Super Giants started poorly, losing in-form opener Mitchell Marsh for a golden duck in the first over of the match to Arshdeep Singh.
Marsh’s opening partner Aiden Markram hit Arshdeep for three boundaries in his next over but fell for 28 off 18 soon after to New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson, who was playing his first match for the Kings.
Captain Rishabh Pant’s stint at the crease was short-lived getting out for just two runs from five balls, leaving Lucknow reeling at 35-3 just prior to the end of the powerplay.
Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni steadied the innings with a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but Pooran eventually fell to spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the 12th over after an entertaining 44 off 30 balls.
The attacking David Miller who came in next did not last long either, falling to fellow South African Marco Jansen for 19 off 18 deliveries.
Badoni (41) and Abdul Samad (27), both of whom were dismissed by Arshdeep in the last over of the match, provided some late momentum to Lucknow, propelling them to a total of 171-7.
In response, Punjab lost opener Priyansh Arya cheaply for eight runs off nine balls to spinner Digvesh Rathi in the third over.
But Lucknow’s bowling attack only again tasted success in the 11th over when Prabhsimran fell, courtesy of a spectacular catch at the fence.
By then, Iyer and Prabhsimran’s quickfire partnership of 84 — powered largely by the latter — had taken the match away from Lucknow.
Left-handed batter Nehal Wadhera (43) then teamed up with Iyer to take Punjab over the line without any further setbacks.
Rathi (2-30) was the only Lucknow bowler to be among the wickets.