In the marquee game of the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal, Bayer Leverkusen beat 1.FC Köln in a ‘kleiner’ Rhein Derby to progress to the semi-finals, but it was not as easy as they first

Domestic cups often feel like an afterthought, but not in Germany, where Leverkusen and Cologne put on an electric show in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals.

Xabi Alonso is set to make up to four changes when his Bayer Leverkusen side host local rivals FC Köln at the BayArena in Wednesday’s DFB Pokal quarter-final.