Intriguing fixtures ahead as Germany unpacks its DFB Pokal draw
Following the conclusion of the 2020/21 Bundesliga's seventh round, the long-awaited draw for the second round of the DFB-Pokal draw finally took place.
German football lovers tuned into the live draw on the country's popular "ARD Sportschau" in order to discover what awaits on December 22nd and 23rd.
The second round of the 2020/21 German domestic cup will be held later in the calendar year than anytime for several decades. Here are some of the storylines developing when footballing enthusiasts across the Bundesrepublik get to unwrap an early Christmas present.
German football lovers tuned into the live draw on the country's popular "ARD Sportschau" in order to discover what awaits on December 22nd and 23rd.
Three direct Bundesliga duels
Six top tier German Bundesliga clubs will compete for the right to advance to the third round. Stuttgart and Freiburg will square off in what should be a very entertaining fixture for those calling Baden-Württemberg home. The two rival sides produced a five-goal gem in the opening round of the 2020/21 Bundesliga.
Augsburg and Leipzig will also face one another while Frankfurt-Leverkusen promises to be the most intriguing encounter.
Bayern draws Holstein Kiel
With a wink and a nod, Kiel sporting director remarked that a win against the Bavarian supecrlub should be "doable". In a statement on the club's website, the club's administrator declared his proud northern storks highly motivated to "compete against the best players in the world."
Rot-Weiß Essen gets a derby
It's been quite some time since the one-time top tier side of RWE had a chance to welcome their regional rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf to their home turf. In point of fact, they've not yet received the Flingeraner at their new city stadium. The current fourth-tier side already upset Bielefeld in the opening round and hopes to climb back into the ranks of professional German football for the first time in twelve years.
Braunschweig gets Dortmund
After knocking off Hertha BSC in by far the biggest upset of the opening round, the Lions of Lower Saxony must pull off the sensational once again. Anything can happen in a competition where it only takes ninety solid minutes on the football pitch. Head coach Daniel Meyer expressed the hope that "a few spectators will be able to join us by then."
The complete pairings produced by the draw read as follows:
Schalke 04-SSV Ulm
SV Wehen Wiesbaden- Jahn Regensburg
VFB Stuttgart-SV Freiburg
Hannover 96-Werder Bremen
FC Bayern-Holstein Kiel
Wolfsburg-SV Sandhausen
Rot-Weiß Essen-Fortuna Düsseldorf
Dynamo Dresden-SV Darmstadt 98
Eintracht Braunschweig-Borussia Dortmund
FC Köln-VfL Osnabrück
FC Augsburg-RB Leipzig
SV Elversberg-Borussia Mönchengladbach
Union Berlin-SC Paderborn
Bayer Leverkusen-Eintracht Frankfurt
FSV Mainz 05-VfL Bochum
TSG Hoffenheim-SpVgg Greuther Fürth