It was mixed feeling for Nigerian players on Saturday as the finals of the German Cup and Scottish Cup were held in Germany and Scotland respectively, PRIMANEWS Sports Extra reports.
In Germany, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella quickly put Wednesday’s Europa League final defeat to Atalanta behind them to celebrate a double after helping Bayer Leverkusen beat second division’s Kaiserslautern 1-0 in the final of the German Cup.
Leverkusen bounced back from UEFA Europa League final heartbreak to complete an unprecedented unbeaten domestic double, adding the DFB-Pokal to their maiden Bundesliga title at the Olympiastadion.
The win means the freshly-crowned Bundesliga champions clinched a first-ever domestic double.
Prior to this season’s Bundesliga title, Leverkusen’s last trophy was the 1993 German Cup and the 2023/24 season will be a memorable one for the Nigerians.
While Tella made a late cameo after coming on in the 92nd minute to replace Jeremie Frimpong, Boniface, who remains the club’s top scorer, was an unused substitute.
It was a sad moment for Afeez Aremu, who also watched from the bench as Kaiserslautern suffered defeat on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it was agony for Dessers and his Rangers teammates as Adam Idah scored a 90th-minute winner to secure Celtic’s 42nd Scottish Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over their Old Firm rivals at Hampden Park.
With the final goalless at the break, Rangers thought they had found the crucial breakthrough when Adballah Sima turned the ball in from a corner, only to see his effort ruled out following a VAR review.
Idah proved to be Celtic’s hero, pouncing on a rebound to tuck the ball into the awaiting net and spark scenes of jubilation among those wearing green and white much to the despair of Rangers.
Dessers was in action for only 45 minutes as the Gers boss Philippe Clement opted to make a change at half-time, swapping the Nigerian for Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Sima.
The decision by the managers means the 29-year-old could not add to his 30 goal contributions (22 goals and eight assists) finishing behind Boniface who has 21 goals and 10 assists and finished as the Nigerian player with the most goal contributions across the major leagues in Europe.
Rangers defeat to Celtic was a major blow to their hopes of ending the season with silverware having lost the Scottish Premiership title to their arch-rivals.
