German Cup
2009-05-30 - Bayer Leverkusen vs Werder Bremen
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
German Cup Final
Olympic Stadium Berlin
Saturday, 30th May 2009 – Kickoff 20:00
The final match of the season is the DFB Cup Final after which officially the Bundesliga season is over. After the round Championship Shield, the DFB Cup is the second most valued trophy in German football.
It will be the 34th time that the Cup has been presented in its current form and it is designed by the Cologne artist Wilhelm Nagel who made the Cup from gold-plated sterling silver in which he has used 250 grams of fine gold and decorated his work of art with twelve tourmalines, twelve quartz crystals and 18 nephrites. The trophy also has an eight liters volume for the winners to make use of.
The name of the Cup winning sides are engraved on the base each year. The plinth was increased in height in 1991 by five centimeters to make space for new winners. The material value of the DFB Cup is valued as at least 100,000 Euros.
On Saturday, former HSV striker Uwe Seeler, in his role as honorary captain of Germany will handover the Cup to the winning captain of Cup final 2009.
Saturday’s Cup Final represents the last opportunity for Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen to end the current campaign with a success after both sides failed to achieve their targets in the Bundesliga -Bayer Leverkusen finished in ninth slot with 49 points and Bremen one place behind with four less points.
Winning the Cup is the only way to go the UEFA Europa League next season.
Werder Bremen have won the DFB Cup five times over the eight finals they played whereas Bayer Leverkusen have won the DFB Cup only once over the two finals they played. Werder Bremen are the second best team after Bayern Munich in the winners’ list of DFB Cup.
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen is already looking forward the next season. First major investment in the team is the signing of the FC Basel young striker Eren Derdiyok who will join the club starting 1st July 2009. The 20-year-old, with 12 international caps for Switzerland, has signed a four-year contract with Bayer and the transfer was agreed between the clubs just a few days before the DFB Cup Final.
They also brought Sami Hyypia from Liverpool so next season the team will aim higher in the domestic championship.
Leverkusen played the previous rounds of DFB Cup at home except 1st and 2nd round. Bayer eliminated two Bundesliga teams in the previous rounds which were Energie Cottbus (3rd Round) and Bayern Munich (Quarter-finals). And finally, they were able to eliminate newly promoted Bundesliga side, Mainz, beating them in the extra time of semi-finals.
Brazilian defender Henrique who is loaned from Barcelona and Czech midfielder Tomasz Zdebel are sidelined through injuries as well as young forward Richard Sukuta-Pasu.
Young attacking midfielder Toni Kroos who is loaned from Bayern Munich is currently in the international duty in Germany U-19 squad, but there are reports that he might be available for the team.
Captain Simon Rolfes is fully fit to play in this important match.
Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen have experienced bitterness twice in the last ten days. Coach Thomas Schaaf’s team lost the UEFA Cup Final in Istanbul 2-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk and then were on the losing side of a 5-1 scoreline as VfL Wolfsburg secured their first ever Bundesliga title.
Werder Bremen route to the Final saw Werder play all their games away from home and in the last three rounds they overcame strong opposition.
In the semi-final against Hamburger, keeper Tim Wiese produced a match-winning display as he saved three penalties. Before that, Werder beat the new champions Wolfsburg (5-2) and also scored a success on the road against Borussia Dortmund (2-1).
The DFB Cup Final would be emotional to two important players of the club. Outstanding playmaker Diego will wear Bremen shirt one last time before he departs for Torino to join Juventus and the team legend.
Werder captain Frank Baumann will end his professional playing career after the German Cup Final in Berlin. The 33-year-old announced his decision at a press conference at Weser-Stadion on Monday, 25 May 2009. The Captain will not extend his contract as a player which runs out on 30 June 2009. Baumann transferred to Werder 10 years ago and has worn the Bremen captain armband for the past nine seasons.
However, this would not be end of the collaboration between Frank Baumann and Werder Bremen. The midfielder will begin his duties as assistant to the manager of professional football on 1 January 2010. Baumann recently signed a contract for those duties until 30 June 2012.
In the 10 years in Bremen, Frank Baumann had played 269 of his 289 Bundesliga matches and scored 15 of his 16 Bundesliga goals. He had debuted in the German national team in November 1999 as the 800th player in national team history. Until 2005 he played in 28 international matches and finished runner-up at the 2002 World Cup with Germany in Japan and South Korea.
Hugo Almeida will be back for this match as well as Sebastian Boenisch and the team will miss again the long-term injured Daniel Jensen and Per Mertesacker.
The betting verdict
Both teams can play football on high level no doubt about that, but have underperformed in the Bundesliga and the league positions don’t reflect their true abilities.
I’m expecting a game between two sides that are going out to win.
Both teams will be hyped up to save their season with a trophy, and having in mind their offensive style of playing, I expect to see at least couple of goals in this entertaining match.
The Statistics
The final this year will be the fifth meeting between Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen in the DFB Cup. Werder Bremen have won all four last meetings in the Cup.
18.12.1976, 3 Round, Season 1976/77
Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen 3:0
10.05.1989, semifinals, Season 1988/89
Bayer Leverkusen – Werder Bremen 1:2
11.08.1996, 1 Round, Season 1996/97
Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 (penalties 6-4)
22.09.2004, 2 Round, Season 2004/05
Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen 3:2
Head to Head Bayer Leverkusen v. Werder Bremen last 10 meetings
12-04-09 Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 1 Werder Bremen
28-10-08 Werder Bremen 0 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
17-05-08 Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 1 Werder Bremen
15-12-07 Werder Bremen 5 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
31-01-07 Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 2 Werder Bremen
19-08-06 Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen
04-03-06 Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 1 Werder Bremen
24-09-05 Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen
23-07-05 Werder Bremen 1 - 0 Bayer Leverkusen
24-04-05 Bayer Leverkusen 2 - 1 Werder Bremen
Additional Note :
P.S. A Big thanks to TheGooner for all the support, and thanks to everyone that reads and finds my previews useful in some way.
Sometimes the tips were correct, sometimes not and I hope that from the start of the next Bundesliga season we`ll have more profits, more winnings and more beers to celebrate
More Bundesliga previews will follow with the start of the new season.
Thank You.
The Pick :
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Werder Bremen
