The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung title reads 'Smarter Leverkusen' and the news journal reports: "The two sides set a tremendous pace from the kick-off and were initially on equal terms in a lively encounter with both teams sharing possession. At half-time, the crowd were surprised only one goal had been scored. The players owed themselves and the fans one thing: Better finishing. Both teams had the chance to take the lead... However much the outstanding Bernd Leno and his fellow defenders were exposed – Leverkusen calmly waited for the opportunity to mount a counter-attack. And it was worth waiting for. Twenty minutes before the end, Bailey rounded off a rare counter-attack with the surprise opening goal. Gladbach fought hard to resist going out of the Cup but were unable to deal with Leverkusen, who were smart in holding firm at the back."
The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger reports: "There was singing at the end. The many Green and White fans cheered off their players, despite losing the home game. The Black and Reds celebrated a hard-fought win. Bayer 04 Leverkusen went through to the DFB Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. And there were three main reasons for that: Luck, goalkeeper Bernd Leno and the incredible Leon Bailey, who scored the only goal of the game against an impressive Gladbach side. The game began at a furious pace. There was a hectic start with all the players apparently trying to burst forwards. Bayer 04 had the edge early on and posed a threat to the Gladbach net with shots from Sven Bender and Leon Bailey and then Borussia upped the tempo and they could have taken the lead with efforts from Stindl, Hazard and Hermann. However, the Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno reacted brilliantly three times to keep the score vat 0-0...Then came the moment when the game was turned on its head with the first successful Bayer 04 counter-attack on 70 minutes. Volland played the ball across the pitch into the path of Leon Bailey, who broke into the Gladbach box to fire the ball into the net with laser precision. Gladbach amazement and disappointment merged with the celebrations of the travelling 2,500 Leverkusen fans who could scarcely believe their luck in being able to praise such a player."
The Bild Zeitung focused on the goalscorer: "Leon Bailey (20) recorded his own episode of 'Cool Runnings'. Following a mistake from Oxford and a pass from Volland, the Jamaican broke clear to calmly slot the ball into the net at the near post (70')... Leverkusen are just two wins away from from the Cup final and Bernd Leno declared: "'Our chances of getting to Berlin have never been so good. The Cup is our European competition this season.' Sporting director Rudi Völler commented on the victory: 'It has to be different. Performances in recent weeks were better. But the team showed what they can do – with passion and desire to fight. That's what counts in the Cup.'"
The Express writes: "A blow for Borussia! Bravo, Bayer! Gladbach and Leverkusen produced a great Rhineland encounter in the DFB Cup Round of 16 tie in the last game of the year – with the Werkself coming out on top in a 1-0 win."
