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Bayer Leverkusen wins the German Cup and completes undefeated domestic double

May 25, 2024 | 2:23 PM

BERLIN (AP) — Granit Xhaka’s early strike was enough for Bayer Leverkusen to win the German Cup final 1-0 over Kaiserslautern for an unbeaten domestic double on Saturday.

Xhaka fired the ball in under the crossbar from distance in the 16th minute. It proved to be enough against second-division Kaiserslautern despite losing defender Odilon Kossounou to a second yellow card just before the break.

Leverkusen had already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and went on to complete the whole league season unbeaten. The only blip on Xabi Alonso’s team’s record this season was losing the Europa League final to Atalanta 3-0 on Wednesday in Dublin. That ended Leverkusen’s record 51-game unbeaten run across all competitions. It was its only loss in 53 games this season.

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