Florian Wirtz scored a brace as Bayer Leverkusen trounced Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-0 on Wednesday to reach the German Cup final in the latest step to finally rid themselves of their Neverkusen image.
The derby between the runaway Bundesliga leaders and the top flight promotion hopefuls from 20 kilometres down the River Rhine was over as a contest in the first half as treble chasing Leverkusen stretched their unbeaten run all season to 40 games.
Jeremie Frimpong fired the opener into the roof of the net in the seventh minute, and Amine Adli doubled the lead 13 minutes later into the far right corner on the counter for Xabi Alonso's side.
Germany player Wirtz made it 3-0 in the 35th after a mistake from goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier, and converted a penalty on the hour, before forward Victor Boniface got his first minutes of the year in a comeback from a long-term groin injury.
"We are very happy and proud," captain Jonathan Tah told broadcasters ZDF after reaching the May 25 decider in Berlin against second tier Kaiserslautern who beat third division Saarberücken 2-0 in the other semi on Tuesday.
"The full focus today was on this title. We respected the opponent. We said at half-time that we will go for the fourth, and this is exactly the attitude we need to win titles."
Wirtz spoke of "a very good result" and said "it was important to qualify for the final." Alonso agreed that "it is important for everyone to reach the final. We have a big chance."
Kastenmeier conceded that "It was all over after the third goal. It was several levels above ours."
Twice Cup winners Düsseldorf had some chances of their own but were outplayed by the hosts who have not tasted defeat since a 3-0 loss at VfL Bochum in last season's May 27 Bundesliga finale.
Leverkusen will be the big favourites again in the final for what could be the completion a domestic double, as they are 13 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga which ends a week earlier.
A treble is possible bas well ecause Leverkusen are in the Europa League quarter-finals where they face West Ham United.
But caution is still prevailing at the 1988 UEFA Cup champions because they have not earned any silverware since winning a lone German Cup title in 1993.
Three lost German Cup finals and five Bundesliga runner-up finishes since then have earned them the dubious Neverkusen distinction, culminating in 2002 when they came second in the league, German Cup and Champions League within a span of 12 days.
"We will enjoy the moment and then focus on the next match. We have to stay calm because we have ambitions," Tah insisted.
