Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders were immediately on the attack against their promotion-chasing second-tier opponents and, after a couple of forays, they took the lead on seven minutes, with Jeremie Frimpong smashing the ball into the roof of the net from close range after Patrick Schick’s effort deflected into his path.
The home fans, who celebrated the club’s 90th anniversary pre-match, were given a goal worthy of the occasion as Leverkusen doubled their advantage.
They went the length of the pitch with Amine Adli streaking away and arrowing a shot hard and low from the left corner of the box into the far corner of Florian Kastenmeier’s goal.
While he was beaten fair and square for the second, the Düsseldorf keeper was to blame for the third 10 minutes before the break.
Die Werkself don’t need any help to create chances, but his loose pass to Robert Andrich ended up with Florian Wirtz finishing via an Adli pass to send the hosts in at the break with a three-goal cushion.
Leverkusen began the second half with the same swagger that they had in the first. Despite a Christos Tzolis warning shot, the fourth goal came on the hour from the penalty spot.
It was given with the help of VAR when Schick’s header flicked off the hand of the unfortunate Matthias Zimmerman, but Wirtz didn’t question the decision and buried the penalty into the bottom corner despite Kastenmeier guessing the right way.
Alonso committed his immediate future to the club last week, staving off interest from the likes of Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and spent the rest of the game utilising his side’s strength in depth to keep legs fresh for their trip to take on Union Berlin on Saturday as their pursuit of the Meisterschale continues.
They will be back in the capital on May 25 in what will be their first Pokal final since losing to Bayern Munich in 2020, where Leverkusen will again face second-tier opposition in Kaiserslautern and will be heavy favourites to win their second domestic cup 31 years after their sole success.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen)
