DFB-Pokal final: Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Wolfsburg; Klopp leaves on a losing note

Wolfsburg celebrate with the DFB-Pokal trophy

Manager Jurgen Klopp did not get a fairytale ending to his Borussia Dortmund career as his side suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of Wolfsburg in the final of the DFB-Pokal. Despite taking the lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dortmund conceded 3 first half goals through Luiz Gustavo, Kevin de Bruyne and Bas Dost to stutter at the final stage of the cup.

In an entertaining first half, Dortmund, riding high on emotion due to Sebastian Kehl’s and Klopp’s final matches for the club, took the lead when Aubameyang ghosted behind the defenders and put the finishing touch to Shinji Kagawa’s cross in the 5th minute.

However, Wolfsburg were not shaken by the early setback and came back strongly. In the 22nd minute, their pressure paid off when Naldo‘s free-kick was spilled by Mitchell Langerak. Gustavo was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net on the rebound to restore parity in the match.

That goal spurred Wolfsburg on as in the 33rd minute, De Bruyne hit a stinging drive from the edge of the box after being set up cleverly by Daniel Caliguiri. Before Dortmund could recover from that setback, Bas Dost, enjoying a spectacular season, made it 3 just 5 minutes later. Ivan Perisic’s cross found Dost and he headed past the helpless Langerak to shock the yellow army.

In the second half, Dortmund pushed higher up to put pressure on their opponents. Kagawa missed an easy chance 5 minutes in the half when he hit the post from close range. In the search for the goal, Dortmund left plenty of space at the back, however, Wolfsburg were restricted to shots from long range.

Jakub Blaszczykowski, Lukasz Piszczek and Ciro Immobile were brought on to change the scoreline, but they could do little as Wolfsburg held on to win their first Pokal in their history. It was a sad ending for Klopp as he departs Dortmund after a disappointing season.

Dortmund 1-0 Wolfsburg: Aubameyang (5’)

Dortmund 1-1 Wolfsburg: Gustavo (22’)

Dortmund 1-2 Wolfsburg: De Bruyne (33’)

Dortmund 1-3 Wolfsburg: Dost (38’)