At least one second division team makes it to the quarter-finals, that's already clear after the draw for the round of 16 in the DFB Cup. FC Bayern travels to Rhineland-Palatinate, while Borussia Dortmund has a short way. Eintracht Frankfurt gets a derby with a Bundesliga contender.
Two explosive derbies, a Baden duel - and a complicated away game for the record champion: In the round of 16 of the DFB Cup, FC Bayern Munich has to play against FSV Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund also has to deal with the district neighbors VfL Bochum away. It won't be easy for defending champions RB Leipzig either, as the draw at the German Football Museum in Dortmund showed. The Saxons play at home against TSG Hoffenheim.
"Interesting games that are really all open," said DFB managing director Oliver Bierhoff on ARD. And by that the 54-year-old didn't just mean the games of the three top Bundesliga teams from Munich, Dortmund and Leipzig. Because it should be explosive, especially in Frankfurt, where Eintracht will receive the second division team SV Darmstadt 98 for the Hessian derby. The round of 16 games will take place in two parts this time on January 31st/January 1st. February and on 7./8. February instead.
"Of course it's a hammer draw. DFB Cup, floodlights, Revierderby. We're very happy," said Bochum's sporting director Patrick Fabian about the duel with BVB. There is another Bundesliga duel between the current leaders 1. FC Union Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg. Last year's finalist SC Freiburg has to play the Baden duel against second division team SV Sandhausen.
VfB Stuttgart takes on SC Paderborn. "We have a very difficult task ahead of us in the round of 16. SC Paderborn is doing a great job in the second division under Lukas Kwasniok," said Stuttgart's sporting director Sven Mislintat. 1. FC Nürnberg also plays against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
"We've got the home game we wanted. Now we're concentrating on the league first and then we'll have a highlight after the winter break," said Nuremberg coach Markus Weinzierl about the duel between the second division teams. Union was also happy via Twitter about the "good news" that they had a home game against Wolfsburg.
