What the papers say: 'Young Werkself punished for their bravery'

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger writes: "The final in Berlin will not involve Leverkusen but rather FC Bayern once again after they punished the young Werkself side very heavily for their bravery. Martinez (3') and Lewandowski (9') put the record champions ahead early on with Lars Bender scoring to make it 2-1 before half-time. After the restart, an attack-minded Leverkusen team were swept away. A strike from Thiago Alcántara (60') plus three from Thomas Müller (52', 64', 78') completed a runaway win for the Munich team with the exception of a personal success for Leon Bailey when he scored direct from a free kick on 72 minutes."

The Kölnische Rundschau took the following position: "It was the eagerly awaited clash between the two most exciting teams at the moment that drew a crowd of 30,210 and it provided a story on a summer-like 17 April. With a one-sided outcome that most people expected and some feared. Bayern underlined their status as the top team in the country with an impressive 6-2  win that deservedly takes them to the final...Bayern's panache and dominance overwhelmed Leverkusen who had  to regroup. Lars Bender's headed goal quickly restored hope on 16 minutes. Bayer pressed hard and they had two chances to level through Sven Bender (31') and Karim Bellarabi (37'). The Werkself kept snapping at the heels of the favourites and, soon after the restart, had a double opportunity to make it 2-2 through Volland and Bellarabi (50') . But the game was then out of sight in a period of twelve minutes.  Bayern punished the poor conversion rate of the hosts in the most brutal manner."

The Cologne-based Express looked at the high quality of the very closely fought game before the break: "The chant of Berlin, Berlin – we're off to Berlin' from the visitors section had hardly died away after the 2-0 lead before Heiko Herrlich's taem fought their way back into the game. A Brandt free kick and chaos in the Bayern defence saw the captain Lars Bender breathe new life into Bayer with his headed goal. A great spectacle in the first 45 minutes. There were chances at both ends in rapid succession – with everything happening at an incredible tempo. A real feast of football. Bayern then really flexed their muscles in the second half."

The verdict of the Westdeutsche Zeitung: "The second Bayern goal could have led to a boring night of football as often happens in the German league but that did not happen as Bayer 04 responded bravely: Lars Bender scored with a header (16') and the industrious Karim Bellarabi twice forced the impressive Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich into brilliantly saving low shots. Coach Heiko Herrlich took a risk after the break by playing with a back three as he brought on the more attacking Leon Bailey for the Greek Panagiotis Retsos and moved Julian Brandt to the right flank. And Leverkusen quickly had a chance to equalise but Volland and Bellarabi missed – and that was start of the decline from a Leverkusen perspective."

The Kicker also highlights the performance of the Bayern goalkeeper in their headline: 'Ulreich saves– and then Bayern turn it on'. The article continues: "After the second goal it looked like Bayer were in trouble. But the hosts were keen to keep the dream of going to Berlin alive and they found new courage. And with success: From a Brandt free kick, Hummels and Boateng failed to clear allowing Lars Bender to head the ball into the left corner of the net – 1-2 (16'). That was followed by end-to-end action between the boxes with some very robust challenges along the way. It really came to life on 37 minutes when Bellarabi fired in a shot from outside the penalty area but Ulreich reacted in a flash to make an impressive diving save. Both coaches reacted at half-time: Herrlich took off the booked Retsos and brought on Bailey. Heynckes replaced Alaba with Rafinha. Bayer posed the first threat but Volland's shot was blocked and Bellarabi was denied by a brilliant reflex save by Ulreich (50')."

The online edition of the Rheinische Post reports: "When Robert Lewandowski made it 2-0 on nine minutes from a cross from the left by lively stalwart Franck Ribéry, all dreams of the first final for Leverkusen since 2009 appeared to have evaporated for Bayer. The captain Lars Bender restored hope for the Bayer 04 supporters, who continued to get behind their team in spite of Bayern's dream start, with his headed goal on 16 minutes. Leverkusen were back in the game – even though the defenders in the young Werkself side continued to be seriously troubled by the FCB wingers Ribéry and Arjen Robben. A long-range effort from Bellarabi really tested Ulreich in the FCB goal (37'). Herrlich made a change at half-time bringing on striker Bailey in place of left back Panagiotis Retsos as he looked to get on the front foot. The second half looked promising at the start but the goal to make it 3-1 from Thomas Müller  significantly deflated the euphoria in the Bayer camp (52')."