Andrich: “St. Pauli didn’t have the quality today”

Bayer Leverkusen booked their place in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals on Tuesday evening with a comfortable 3-0 victory over St. Pauli, with Robert Andrich offering a candid assessment of the performance afterwards.

Leverkusen eased into their third consecutive Pokal semi-final thanks to goals from Martin Terrier, Patrick Schick and Jonas Hofmann. Despite the convincing scoreline, Andrich admitted the evening was “unfortunately not” as relaxed as he would have liked, speaking to ZDF after the final whistle.

Reflecting on the contest, the Leverkusen captain was rather blunt with his analysis:

“St. Pauli didn’t have the quality to pose a threat to us today. Even though we really didn’t play well.” 

However, Andrich stressed that progression is ultimately what matters in cup competitions:

“In the cup it’s all about going through to the next round, though, and we’ve done that. We have one more game to go and then we’re back in Berlin.”

Despite advancing comfortably, the 31-year-old believes Leverkusen are still some way from their best level and highlighted areas for improvement:

“If you look at the details, there’s still room for improvement. We need to make more of our opportunities and numerous ball recoveries, and we weren’t as aggressive defensively as we were against Frankfurt.” 

Head coach Kasper Hjulmand also offered his thoughts post-game: 

“At half-time, we said we had to invest more and take up better positions and it was much better after that. We were very effective and are happy with the 3-0 win. To be in with a chance of winning something is important for us as a team. We’re in the semi-finals now and have the chance to go to Berlin in May.”

As the first team into the semi-final draw, Leverkusen will now await the outcomes of the remaining quarter-finals. Die Werkself will face one of Holstein Kiel or Stuttgart, Hertha BSC or Freiburg, or Bayern Munich or RB Leipzig as they continue their bid to lift the trophy once again, having last triumphed in the 2023/24 season.