MILAN - Inter's Champions League Group A opponents Bayer 04 Leverkusen are through to the semi-finals of the German DFB-Pokal Cup after beating SpVgg Unterhaching on penalties in front of 6,500 spectators at Hachinger Sportpark on Wednesday evening.
Franca fired Bayer into the lead on 22 minutes, only to see Unterhaching draw level seconds after the restart through Angelo 'Angegol' Vaccaro. Carsten Ramelow restored the lead for Klaus Toppmöller's side in the 49th minute, then Goran Sukalo equalised once again for the home side with 27 minutes to play.
With the scores still level at the end of extra time, Leverkusen, who lie in 14th position in the Bundesliga just a point above the relegation zone, secured a semi-final berth after winning the penalty shoot-out 5-4.
Bayer Leverkusen are in action again at 15:30 CET on Saturday with a Bundesliga clash away to VfL Bochum, currently eighth in the league table.
German DFB-Pokal Cup quarter-final result:
SP VGG UNTERHACHING 2-2 BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN (6-7 after pens)
Scorers: Franca (B) 22', Vaccaro (U) 46', Ramelow (B) 49', Sukalo (U) 63'
SpVgg Unterhaching: Heerwagen, Lust (Liebers 107'), Seifert, Strehmel, Grassow, Leitl (Zimmermann 62'), Sukalo, Omodiagbe, Majstorovic (Ayguen 111'), Copado, Vaccaro
Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Butt, Zivkovic, Juan, Placente, Ojigwe (Bierofka 72'), Kaluzny (Balitsch 91'), Ramelow, Schneider, Bastürk, Neuville, Franca (Berbatow 66')
