Preview: Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen: Team news and how to stream | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen will look to make it successive DFB Pokal finals when they travel to Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday night, but they will have to do it against the Bundesliga giant-killers.

3. Liga side Arminia beat Union Berlin, Freiburg and Werder Bremen to set up a semi-final against reigning league and cup champions, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, who themselves beat Bayern Munich before needing extra time to eliminate local rivals FC Köln in the quarter-final.

Should Arminia win, they will be the first 3. Liga side to reach the DFB Pokal final since Union Berlin in 2001.

Speaking at Monday’s press conference, Alonso warned his players that “it won’t be easy,” while praising Arminia for their season.

“They’re in good shape,” said the Spaniard. “And in my opinion they fully deserve to be in the semi-finals. They’re brave on the ball and very dynamic in their play. And then there’s the special atmosphere inside their stadium. I’ve not been before but I’ve heard a bit about it.”

Leverkusen will still be without long-term absentees Jeanuël Belocian, Mario Hermoso and Martin Terrier, while this game is expected to come too soon for Florian Wirtz, although the German could return imminently with Alonso prepared to take a risk. Edmond Tapsoba is also sidelined but in positive news, Nathan Tella has resumed training and could feature.

As Leverkusen’s cup goalkeeper, Matej Kovar is also expected to start ahead of Lukas Hradecky: “Matej is in a good place mentally, is training well and able to play at any time,” added Alonso. “We’ll see tomorrow who plays.”

Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen Form

After beating 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96 in the opening round, Arminia Bielefeld have gone on to beat three top flight teams. Michél Kniat’s side will certainly come into this tie full of confidence with just one defeat in their last eight games across all competitions, a run which has yielded six wins.

Bayer Leverkusen meanwhile have suffered three successive defeats in their last five games across all competitions. 3-1 down after 62 minutes against VfB Stuttgart, they left it until the third minute of stoppage time to secure a 4-3 win via a Patrik Schick goal, which preceded a 3-1 win against Bochum on Friday night.

How to watch Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen

ARD will stream the Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen German Cup semi-final for free on Tuesday night. If you are in the UK, Premier Sports will showcase the game, as will DFB Play. And if you reside in the US, ESPN will stream the game.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder