The Japan Times - Kane and Diaz send Bayern past Leverkusen into German Cup final

Just three days after Bayern sealed back-to-back Bundesliga titles with a home win over Stuttgart, Kane and Diaz got the goals to keep hopes of a treble alive.

Bayern's comfortable victory avenged their defeat by Leverkusen in the round of 16 last season. They will face either holders Stuttgart or Freiburg in the final.

The Bavarian giants have won a record 20 German Cups but had not reached the showpiece in Berlin for six years, their longest drought since the turn of the century.

"We're going to Berlin. I'm looking forward to it. It was a goal of ours to get to Berlin, to reach the final, experience that, the guys said it's an incredible experience, so we've done nearly all the work," said Kane.

"We've had a lot of away games, tough games, we've had to grind it out. Now we've got one more to go. In a final anything is possible. We're feeling good."

Leverkusen, the 2024 cup winners, were appearing in a third successive semi-final but struggled under the bright lights as Bayern pinned them back.

Diaz and Kane forced good saves from Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken inside the opening 20 minutes but the England captain eventually broke through.

Jamal Musiala threaded a pass through from the right which was intended for Diaz, but Kane was on hand to smash in when the ball evaded the Colombian completely.

Leverkusen improved after the break. Nathan Tella, who scored the only goal when Leverkusen eliminated Bayern last season, forced a spectacular save from Manuel Neuer early in the second half.

Tella thumped a low shot that required Neuer to fully extend himself to swat the ball away.

In the final half hour, Bayern had the better chances to score with Josip Stanisic, Kane and Diaz all going close to putting the match to bed.

The hosts won a corner in the final minute of normal time but Bayern launched an immediate counter-attack, with Flekken once more blocking a Diaz shot.

Diaz added gloss to the victory in the third minute of stoppage time, turning in a Leon Goretzka pass. Originally flagged for offside, the decision was overturned after a VAR review, sending the Bayern players streaming from the bench.

H.Takahashi--JT