North Rhine-Westphalia
As of: 02/27/2023 7:13 p.m
On Tuesday, 1. FC Köln and SGS Essen are fighting for a place in the semi-finals of the women’s DFB Cup. While Cologne is a clear outsider against Wolfsburg, Essen has good chances at RB Leipzig.
The women’s Bundesliga side SGS Essen and 1. FC Köln will play in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup on Tuesday evening (both at 6 p.m.) for a place in the next round. Essen plays for the ambitious second division side RB Leipzig, 1. FC Köln welcomes the Bundesliga leaders VfL Wolfsburg in the Höhenberg sports park.
On paper, the duel between Essen and Leipzig is actually a clear thing: SGS is seventh in the Bundesliga, Leipzig is second division. However, Leipzig leads the table of the lower house with a nine-point lead over the closest pursuer SG 99 Andernach and is expected to be a league higher next season. And Eintracht Frankfurt, currently third in the Bundesliga, lost 2-1 to RB in the round of 16.
Essen, who defeated Werder Bremen 1-0 in the round of 16, have therefore been warned. SGS trainer Markus Högner speaks of a “tough nut”, but his team should go into the game with self-confidence: “We’re the Bundesliga club – and we’re in a really good mood. That’s how we want to appear”.
Essen should keep an eye on Leipzig’s top attacker Vanessa Fudalla. The 21-year-old is the top scorer in the 2nd division with 17 goals.
1. FC Köln has a home game, but with the current champions and cup winners VfL Wolfsburg it is a much more difficult task than SGS. While Cologne is three points behind Essen in ninth place in the Bundesliga and fighting against relegation, Wolfsburg comfortably leads the table with twelve wins from twelve games.
For Cologne, a win would mean their first place in the semi-finals, Wolfsburg have won the cup eight times in a row. FC had reached the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win after extra time over Bundesliga bottom-placed Turbine Potsdam, while Wolfsburg defeated second-division side 1. FC Nürnberg 6-0. Cologne lost 4-0 in the last Bundesliga game against VfL.
Cologne is hoping for a large number of spectators and has moved the duel from the Franz Kremer Stadium to the Höhenberg sports park, which can accommodate around 3,000 more visitors with 8,317 seats. “In Höhenberg, the stadium capacity is higher than here. So we hope that as many spectators as possible will watch the cup game and support our players,” says the sporting director of FC Frauen Nicole Bender-Rummler.
