⛈️ Golf balls from the sky: Leverkusen's DFB-Pokal match halted

The first round of the DFB-Pokal is in full swing - now everywhere (again). However, there were significant complications during the Leverkusen match.

In Aspach, where Bayer currently aims to secure their place in the second round against the regional league team SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, the ball initially rolled smoothly for only about 17 minutes. After that, rain, hail, and eventually storm gusts, lightning, and thunder caused referee Michael Bacher to interrupt the game with the score at 0:0.

"The game was interrupted because currently, hailstones the size of golf balls are covering the field," the English 'X' account of Bayer Leverkusen aptly wrote.

Even after about a ten-minute pause, there was no indication that the game could resume quickly. However, at 6:45 PM, the stadium announcer declared that the match would continue at 7 PM after the field was cleared of water. This indeed happened - the game resumed at 7 PM in the 18th minute.

So far, it doesn't seem like the home team could benefit from the interruption: In the 32nd minute, Patrik Schick scored the opening goal for his team. Thus, Leverkusen is on course to advance to the second round - albeit still delayed and with a later finish than on the fields of the parallel matches.

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