In any case, a second division team will advance to the next round, four more can hope. In the round of 16 of the DFB Cup there is also a northern derby, a duel in the west and one in the east. And maybe two 16-year-olds will meet.
Hertha BSC – 1. FC Kaiserslautern (Tuesday, 6 p.m.)
In the duel between the two traditional clubs, the two youngest players in the history of the second division could have a duel. We’re talking about Berlin’s Kennet Eichhorn and Kaiserlautern’s Dion Hofmeister. Both are 16 years old, defensive midfielders and future hopes for their clubs.
While Hofmeister only recently celebrated his second division debut in the 4-1 win against Kiel at the age of 16 years, 4 months and 13 days, Eichhorn is already an old hand. In the summer, the youngster signed a long-term contract with Hertha. Shortly afterwards, at the age of 16 years and 14 days, he became the youngest player in second division history.
It is already certain that a second division team will make it to the quarter-finals. Both only met in the league at the beginning of November, when Berlin won 1-0 against the “Red Devils”. Hertha are also favorites in the cup, having been unbeaten in six games across all competitions.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – FC St. Pauli (Tuesday, 6 p.m.)
Gladbach and the DFB Cup – there was something there. At the end of October, the “Fohlen” celebrated their first win there in the second round against Karlsruher SC under the new coach Eugen Polanski, who was still interim coach at the time. Since then, the team has been undefeated and Polanski was promoted to boss.
Part of the current winning streak also includes a 4-0 win at FC St. Pauli. It goes without saying that the “Kiezkicker” are now hoping for revenge in the cup.
Borussia Dortmund – Bayer Leverkusen (Tuesday, 9 p.m.)
We’ll see each other again so quickly. Just on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund celebrated a 2-1 win in the league against Bayer Leverkusen and moved past the “Werkself” in the table. Now the two top clubs meet (Wednesday from 9 p.m. live on Erste and in the live stream on sportschau.de) at BVB.
It’s clear that Bayer wants to do the same as their rivals – that is, get an away win. Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke of one afterwards “very close game” and emphasized that the result “Little things matter” had been. In the cup the tide should now turn in favor of Leverkusen.
RB Leipzig – 1. FC Magdeburg (Tuesday, 9 p.m.)
The Bundesliga team is the clear favorite in the eastern duel. But it is also clear that 1. FC Magdeburg – a traditional club and the GDR’s only European Cup winner – is eager to thwart the upstart from Saxony in the cup.
But they also know that at RB. “It’s a cup game, you can’t afford any mistakes”Defense chief Willi Orban said: “We are aware that this is a large, traditional club with a great following.” And Nicolas Seiwald explained: “We know that Magdeburg can play football. Plus, anything can happen in a cup game.”
The FCM arrives with new self-confidence after the 3-0 win in the league against Nuremberg. “We’re going there with a good feeling and have a tailwind. Then we’ll see what happens.”says midfielder Laurin Ulrich.
VfL Bochum – VfB Stuttgart (Wednesday, 6 p.m.)
The defending champions are coming, but VfL Bochum are still in good spirits. Under coach Uwe Rösler, the West Germans have moved away from the relegation zone and recently achieved a 3-0 win in Fürth.
Against the Bundesliga club on Wednesday (from 6 p.m. live on Erste and in the live stream on sportschau.de), the Blue-Whites are relying primarily on their own fans, even if they of course see themselves as outsiders. “But we can be very disgusting with our stadium and maybe also annoy VfB Stuttgart.”said left-back Maximilian Wittek to “Reviersport”: “With our fans behind us, we will try to give VfB Stuttgart a fight.”
SC Freiburg – Darmstadt 98 (Wednesday, 6 p.m.)
A victory for SV Darmstadt would be almost historic. The “Lilien” have only made it to the DFB Cup quarter-finals once – and that was in the 1986/87 season, so it was almost 40 years ago.
However, the Darmstadt team are currently unbeaten in five games, including the cup game against Schalke. And the Hessians like to do that. Because the 4-0 win against FC Schalke was the biggest win in round two.
“The cup has shown many times that surprises are always possible”said “Liliens” sports director Paul Fernie. One be “logically” the underdog and would have preferred a home game. But: “Nevertheless, we will go there and invest everything we can to advance one round.” In the cup, the Darmstadt team has an impeccable record against Freiburg. The teams met twice, and the South Hesse team won both times.
Hamburger SV – Holstein Kiel (Wednesday, 8.45 p.m.)
Before the northern derby at Hamburger SV, the Kiel team are trying to get the statistics. “We have a positive history with these duels, so we are all looking forward to a hot game and definitely want to continue our cup journey.”said KSV head coach Marcel Rapp. And on the Kiel homepage it says that HSV has not been able to win a home league game against the “Storks” since the 1962/1963 season.
HSV now wants to change that. Defensive player Nicolai Remberg in particular is looking forward to the duel with his former club: “I’m really looking forward to this game, in which we want to ensure that HSV wins a home game against Kiel for the first time.” Four of the six most recent duels in Volkspark ended in a draw, and Kiel won twice.
Union Berlin – Bayern Munich (Wednesday, 8:45 p.m.)
FC Bayern Munich has eleven wins in the Bundesliga and has only drawn once – and that was, of course, at Union Berlin. At the beginning of November it was 2-2, and Harry Kane only secured the point for the record champions in the third minute of added time.
Now the “Irons” are hoping for a similar coup in the stadium at the Alte Försterei – this time with a better outcome for themselves. Horst Heldt, managing director of men’s professional football at 1. FC Union Berlin, took the draw pragmatically: “At the end of the day, in the cup anyway: If you want to get to the final, you have to beat everyone.”