Third-tier minnows bundle Bayern out of German Cup

Bayern Munich have crashed out of the German Cup in a 2-1 loss to third-division Saarbruecken and were left with concerns over a leg injury to defender Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the weekend's "Klassiker" against Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern seemed set to cruise through the second-round game on Wednesday when Thomas Mueller opened the scoring in the 16th minute, but Saarbruecken levelled just before halftime and Marcel Gaus won the game with a deflected shot in the sixth minute of added time.

"I can't believe it, this is crazy. It's simply amazing," Saarbruecken goalkeeper Tim Schreiber said.

This is the third time in four seasons that Bayern are out of the Cup in the second round and first time in 23 years that they have been eliminated by a team from the third division or lower. The last time was on November 1, 2000 against then-fourth-division side Magdeburg.

"You can only congratulate Saarbruecken. If Bayern Munich lose in Saarbruecken, we have certainly done a few things wrong," Mueller told broadcasters ARD.

His coach Thomas Tuchel stressed that his team wasn't "arrogant or took it lightly."

"Everyone who says we have to win here is right. There's no clever explanation, we are extremely disappointed," he said.

Earlier, Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen needed a late flurry of goals to defeat third-division Sandhausen 5-2.

A goal from Marco Reus gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over fellow top-tier team Hoffenheim, while Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Viktoria Cologne 2-0.

Freiburg, a German Cup semi-finalist last season, were upset 3-1 by second-division Paderborn.

Magdeburg defeated Holstein Kiel 4-3 on penalties and Nuremberg defeated Hansa Rostock 3-2 in extra-time.

Second-division Hertha Berlin won 3-0 against Mainz, whose winless run in all competitions stretched to 10 games. Along with Bayern's defeat, those upsets mean just six teams from the top division will play in the round of 16.

With DPA.