DFB-Pokal Quarter-Final Round-Up
By: Jan | February 10th, 2010
The quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal concluded this Wednesday and provided a 45 minute scare for Bayern in Munich, a major upset a few miles away in Augsburg, a familiar face in the semi-final and the end of a remarkable cup campaign.
Bremen 2-1 Hoffenheim. With both teams’ league campaigns already worryingly deflated, this game turned into an early Europa League play-off. One where Bremen remembered their alter DFB-Pokal ego. The one with less harakiri offside traps and some excellent goals on the other end to pave the way into another semi-final.
Augsburg 2-0 Cologne. The cup has its’ own rules goes the saying in Germany. Nobody knows what these rules are and who made them, and this seems to have inspired referee Thorsten Kinhöfer to present his own version. One in which Augsburg get to commit the fouls and Cologne get three players sent off – including a comedic 8 minute cameo by Lukas Podolski. Though, Augsburg’s spirited performance would have given them a good chance to be this year’s cinderella story without the referee clearing the path of superfluous Cologne players. So credit to them.
Bayern 6-2 Fürth. The scoreline is a bit harsh, as Fürth were 2-1 up at half-time and it wasn’t until a fortunate penalty in the 58th minute, that Bayern fully turned the game around and cruised to the next round. Within their means Fürth delivered a good game, though maybe it could have been a more memorable cup fight, had the second division side been given automatic home advantage. So far only lower league (as in third division downwards) teams are afforded the benefit of automatic home advantage in a DFB-Pokal draw, but maybe this rule should be adjusted in the future.
Osnabrück 0-1 Schalke. Third division table toppers Osnabrück have claimed two impressive scalps with Hamburg and Dortmund this season, and delivered another spirited performance, which this time wasn’t enough to find a way through Schalke’s flawless cup defense, unbeaten so far this season. A solitary Kuranyi strike in the second half was eventually enough for Schalke to book their semi-final ticket.
Semi-Finals
Bremen – Augsburg (March 23rd)
Werder Bremen were certainly made to work harder to get to Berlin last year. This time around it all looks like a rather smooth journey to Berlin. The semi-final will be their fourth home game in a row and Hoffenheim will have been the only Bundesliga side standing in their path. Still, Augsburg shouldn’t be easily dismissed. Their fast counter attacking football might be a good fit for a tricky trip to the Weserstadion. Still, as I mentioned above, the automatic home advantage rule could use some tweaking to make such a game more exciting.
Schalke – Bayern (March 24th)
Bochum and Frankfurt were the only modest Bundesliga opposition for the two clubs, so this semi-final will make sure it doesn’t look like one of the two clubs was handed a wild card for the final.
Europa League Implications
The DFB-Pokal is not just a prestigious trophy worth a bit of extra cash, it’s also connected to a Europa League spot. If the DFB-Pokal winner qualified for the Champions League, the Europa League spot will automatically go to the losing finalist. If the DFB-Pokal winner already qualified for the Europa League through the Bundesliga the 6th placed Bundesliga side will get the Europa League spot. In other words, should both Schalke and Bayern hold on to their Champions League spots, then Bremen or Augsburg will be in Europe independent from their result in the final. An easy way to salvage a season for Bremen, if once again necessary.
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Category: DFB-Pokal
Comments
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With all apologies to Jan, I want to give a big shout out to Augsburg. I lived there for some of my time in Germany, but it was really dark times, they were in the Oberliga, old stadium falling apart, no one at the matches, etc. Not ancient history either, we’re talking 8 or 9 years ago. Though they’re not quite in the German Cup final yet and not quite a shoo-in for promotion to the Bundesliga, what they’ve accomplished is magnificent. It’s a team that’s been around for 100 years, and this might be the best they’ve ever been. Simon Jentzsch is still a Bundesliga-quality keeper and no one can stop Michael Thurk..their best match up was Bremen and they got it. Even in the Weserstadion, they’ll have a chance.
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No need to apologize. I don’t have anything against Augsburg. In fact I always like to see clubs with potential grow and develop and add something to either the first or second Bundesliga. With their modern new stadium and current team it’s definitely a great addition to the 2. Bundesliga.
They’ve assembled a good team as you pointed out and their coach is committed to attacking football, which should also help attract new fans. But because of that, I wonder whether it might be better for the club, if Augsburg established itself as a top team in the 2. Bundesliga first, with a distinctive brand of attacking football, to build a good core fanbase to take to the Bundesliga. At the moment there are “only” 16000 coming to their games. The problem with teams like Augsburg is, that they are often too lightweight to have any chance of continuing their type of football in the Bundesliga. This leads to unnecessary coaching changes, kills long-term planning, a new coach might try to find a more defensive grinding way, still gets relegated and you’ve hardly won over many fans for the long term.
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