German FA Cup (DFB Pokal) second round eliminates Hertha, Hannnover and Mainz 05

The DFB Pokal second round features 13 Bundesliga clubs among the 32 contenders, when all was said and done, three, Hertha BSC Berlin, Hannover 96 and Mainz 05, were eliminated.

2nd Bundesliga outfit 1860 Muenchen put up a stellar fight against Juergen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund. In front of 71,000 fans in the Allianz arena, the other Munich team held the Champions League finalist to a scoreless time over 90 minutes.  1860 ran out of steam during overtime and defeated the Lions with two unanswered goals.  Robert Lewandowski, who is expected to sign with Bayern Muenchen in January, was kept in check by the Lions.

Bayern Muenchen hosted Hannover 96 on Wednesday and the side showed its quality once again, when they rolled 4-1 over the guests.  Bayer Leverkusen scored twice against 2nd Bundesliga outfit Arminia Bielefeld to move to the next round. Schalke 04 managed a 3-1 win over Darmstadt 98. 

2nd Bundesligist Kaiserslautern move past Hertha BSC Berlin with a 3-1 win at the Fritz Walter Stadium on the Betzenberg and Mainz 05 lost against 1.FC Koeln.

At the end of the day, ten Bundesliga, five 2nd Bundesliga, and one third league, 1.FC Saarbruecken, will be competing in the third round.  Jogi Low, coach of Germany's national side, will be making the draw on Sunday.  The third round will be played on December 3rd and 4th.

Below are the results of round 2:

September 24
,
Preußen Münster vs FC Augsburg            0-3   
SC Wiedenbrück vs SV Sandhausen          1-3     
1860 München vs Borussia Dortmund    0-2           
VfL Wolfsburg vs VfR Aalen               2-0
Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen      0-2         
Hamburger SV vs SpVgg Greuther Fürth     1-0          
1899 Hoffenheim vs Energie Cottbus        3-0       
FSV Mainz 05 vs 1. FC Köln   0-1

25 September
           
1. FC Saarbrücken vs SC Paderborn         2-1      
Eintracht Frankfurt vs VfL Bochum          2-0     
FSV Frankfurt vs FC Ingolstadt       0-2        
1. FC Kaiserslautern vs Hertha BSC Berlin   3-1            
VfL Osnabrück vs 1. FC Union Berlin    0-1           
Darmstadt 98 vs Schalke 04              1-3 
Bayern München vs Hannover 96    4-1           
SC Freiburg vs VfB Stuttgart      2-1

German Cup Final - FC Bayern Muenchen vs Borussia Dortmund Preview

The top two German teams square off for the German Cup (DFB Pokal) today.  One is already the German Champion 2012, the other is the finalist for the Champions League.  Dortmund has the coveted "Meisterschale" silverware, while Bayern has the opportunity to collect the German Cup and the silverware for the Champions League.

While Bayern had an excellent run in the Bundesliga prior to the winter break, Dortmund had an excellent run during the second leg of the season, securing the championship on matchday 33.  Dortmund's run in the Champions League was disastrous, while Bayern fought its way into the final, which will be played in the Allianz Arena in Munich.   Their victory over Real Madrid was one of the finest soccer matches ever. 

Dortmund has defeated Bayern this year in both the home and away matches in the Bundesliga and that would give Dortmund a slight advantage for the Berlin final.  Bayern, however, is the more experienced side when it comes to important games, and Berlin will be no different. 

Today's game will be fought in the midfield, with counters. Each team will heavily depend on its defence.  For Bayern that means that its defence has to be immaculate today.  Despite having arguable the best goalie in Europe between the posts, Manuel Neuer is human and beatable. 

Based on recent German domestic soccer statistics, Dortmund certainly has the advantage.  Bayern's strength in defence and midfield, will make it difficult for Lewandowski, Kagaw and Mario Goetze to penetrate and beat Manuel Neuer. 

Jupp Heyncke's, who has most of his players available, will certainly have one eye on the Champions League final, but he won't have the novelty of sparing some of his stars against Dortmund.  In order to defeat the Borussen Bayern has to be on its top game performance.  That includes immaculate performances by Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, Mario Gomez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller and Toni Kroos, while Bayern's defence must be solid.

Dortmund has a  solid defence, which will be difficult to penetrate by the Bayern stars.  In Matt Hummels you have a defender, capable of pushing forward and scoring.  Kagawa, Lewandowski will create some turmoil in the Bayern box. 

It is hard to pick winners or losers in this match.  The biggest winners should be the fans, who should see fantastic soccer.  As long as the Bayern focus is on the cup final and not next week's Champions League final next weekend, this outing should be a delight for fans in Berlin and those watching the event in 150 countries around the world.  It can only add to the rising prestige of the Bundesliga and German soccer. 

May the best team win.

DFB Pokal (German FA Cup) Group of 16 Elimination

The German FA elimination rounds continue with the DFB Pokal Group of 16 on December 20th and 21st.  Twelve of the 18 Bundesliga teams remain in the competition.  Bayer Leverkusen, which has survived the Group stage in the Champions League, is eliminated from this competition.

Interesting matchups this for this round are Gladbach against Schalke, Stuttgart vs Hamburger SV and Berlin vs Kaiserslautern.   The match between 1.FC Nuernberg and 2. Bundesliga's Greuther Fuerth could also be a highly charged match.  

FC Bayern and Dortmund should have relatively easy matches against their 2. Bundesliga rivals, but the DFB Pokal has often delivered some surprises.  This round will probably be no exception.

The only thing that is certain is that after this round only eight clubs will survive.  All eight could possibly be Bundesliga but the 2. Liga teams will certainly have a say in that.  Greuther Fuerth has the best chance at survival.  How will Holstein Kiel fare against Mainz 05?  Fortuna Duesseldorf, top of 2. Bundesliga will not make life easy for Dortmund. 


Group of 16 DFB Pokal (German FA Cup)

20.12.2011, 19.00	VfL Bochum -	Bayern München	1-2
20.12.2011, 19.00	1. FC Nürnberg -	SpVgg Greuther Fürth	0-1
20.12.2011, 20.30	1899 Hoffenheim -	FC Augsburg	2-1
20.12.2011, 20.30	Fortuna Düsseldorf -	Borussia Dortmund	0-0 (4:5)
21.12.2011, 19.00	Hertha BSC Berlin -	1. FC Kaiserslautern	(-:-)
21.12.2011, 19.00	Holstein Kiel -	FSV Mainz 05	(-:-)
21.12.2011, 20.30	VfB Stuttgart -	Hamburger SV	(-:-)
21.12.2011, 20.30	Bor. Mönchengladbach -	Schalke 04	(-:-)