Dusseldorf (dpa) – Bayer Leverkusen will aim to reach the German Cup final without midfield star Kai Havertz for their last four clash against lower league Saarbruecken on Tuesday.
“The game is too early for him,” Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz said Monday. “He could have played. But that would have been connected to certain risk. And we did not want to take it.”
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder Havertz missed Saturday’s 4-2 Bundesliga defeat to leaders Bayern Munich with a muscle injury. It is open if he will be fit for the next league match at Schalke on Sunday.
Leverkusen will also be without captain Lars Bender, Daley Sinkgraven and Leon Bailey on Tuesday but Bosz intends to pick as strong a team as possible against the fourth-tier outfit.
“We will not use this semi-final to give players with little playing time a run,” he said. “We want to use this semi-final to reach the final.”
The other semi-final, Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt, takes place Wednesday with the Berlin final on July 4.
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