The round of 16 will be played on February 2nd and 3rd. Photo: Jan Woitas / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© Jan Woitas
Dortmund against Paderborn, Leipzig against Bochum – and FC Bayern could face a second division again. In the round of 16 of the DFB Cup, the really big bang-out duels are missing.
Berlin (dpa) – The top clubs in the Bundesliga avoid the very difficult tasks in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup and meet lower-class clubs.
Borussia Dortmund welcomes Bundesliga relegated SC Paderborn, RB Leipzig meets VfL Bochum. That was the result of the draw for the round of the best 16 teams by the former world-class ski jumper Sven Hannawald on Sunday evening on ARD. If defending champions FC Bayern Munich prevail in the second round at Holstein Kiel, they will also face a second division club at home – SV Darmstadt 98.
Overall, there are only two Bundesliga duels in the round of 16: The bottom of the table, FC Schalke 04, will play at VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart will host Borussia Mönchengladbach. SV Werder Bremen are up against second division SpVgg Greuther Fürth, Jahn Regensburg wants to create a surprise against 1. FC Köln.
Two more games from the second round must be played before the round of 16. Bayer 04 Leverkusen will face Eintracht Frankfurt on January 12th – the winner has to go to the only remaining regional league club Rot-Weiss Essen. “That is not the best, but we take it as it comes,” said Essen trainer Christian Neidhart in the ARD. As the next opponent, he would “prefer to take Frankfurt” if he had a choice.
On January 13th, FC Bayern will compete with the second division team Kiel. The games of the Munich and Leverkusen players were moved to the new year due to their busy schedule in times of the coronavirus pandemic.
The games of the subsequent round of the best 16 will take place on February 2nd and 3rd, the quarter-finals will take place on March 2nd and 3rd. The cup winner will be determined at the final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on May 13th.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210103-99-885180 / 3
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