Schmidt on the bus as Lotte book ticket for next round

Head coach Roger Schmidt remained on Bayer Leverkusen’s team bus as the Bundesliga side crashed out of the DFB-Pokal to minnows Sportfreunde Lotte, sporting director Rudi Voller revealed.

Schmidt began a two-match touchline ban for Tuesday’s cup tie following a clash with Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann at the weekend.

Leverkusen’s third-tier opponents came from behind during the 90 minutes and in extra time – Kevin Volland goals cancelled out by a Roberto Hilbert own goal and Kevin Freiberger respectively – before triumphing 4-3 on penalties.

Lotte missed their first two penalties but netted four in succession, while Charles Aranguiz, Volland and Julian Baumgartlinger all erred from 12 yards.

Schmidt’s men lie 11th in the Bundesliga after a poor run of form but he did not watch their latest setback live as he and Voller decided his presence in the stands would attract unwanted attention.

“He stayed in the bus, that’s the best decision,” the former Germany striker told reporters.

“Otherwise he would be too much focus.”

Schmidt can expect a scathing assessment of his team’s performance from Voller, who added: “That stupidity is unbeatable.

“I am very disappointed. If you take the lead against a hard fighting team like Lotte, everything should go down well.

“But what we did was really bad. We deserved to be knocked out.”