DFB-Pokal Quarter-Final Round-Up
By: Jan | March 4th, 2009Eight teams went in, four went out and on the surface the romance of the cup is alive and well. On the inside, those teams “surprisingly” eliminated are in a deep crisis.
Mainz 05 1-0 Schalke 04
Is there anyone still keeping track of the number of setbacks Schalke has to endure this season? They are out of the Champions League, out of the UEFA Cup, underperforming in the league and now they are out of the DFB-Pokal as well. Thanks to the curious nature of the Bundesliga this season, they still have one last lifeline, or better, there is still one more setback waiting for Schalke. The game emphasized what Schalke 04 is all about in 08/09. It looks like they can control a match, but beyond that can’t do much more, which leads to Schalke losing control of a match by conceding late goals. The team lacks creativity and two to three strikers worthy of their position.
For Mainz though it’s the first ever DFB-Pokal semi-final. The way they played, none of the other teams has to be particularly scared yet.
Hamburg 2-1 Wehen-Wiesbaden
Hamburg had similar problems as Schalke and conceded a late goal by the 2. Bundesliga bottom dwellers. Different to Schalke though, Hamburg had taken care of the match and progress to the second round in the 85 minutes prior to Wiesbaden’s consolation.
Wolfsburg 2-5 Bremen
7 Goals, 7 yellow cards, 5 substitutions, 4 different goalscorers, 3 braces, 2 teams, 1 winner, 0 defense.
Leverkusen 4-2 Bayern Munich
Bayer Leverkusen both overcame their Bayern Munich jinx and cleansed their temporary home from any suspected bad karma. Now that they played so well again, another nosedive in the league can be expected pretty soon.
Bayern Munich have some problems which are overarching their whole season. These problems didn’t stop them from going on an undefeated Bundesliga, CL and DFB-Pokal run from October to January. These problems were the first to come under scrutiny though, when the results all of a sudden no longer went their way. Now the players and the coach are fiddling with a more defensive approach and other little details, to overcome what is more than anything a mental problem now.
The Semi-Final
The draw for the semi-final will take place on Saturday. Until then you can fantasize about your ideal match-ups. I would fancy a northern derby in the final, so Hamburg and Bremen should take on Mainz and Leverkusen respectively. Given that Hamburg had two second division sides in a row, it’s time for them to prove that they belong into the final. Werder Bremen had to deal with five consecutive away games in the cup against some tough opponents, so they deserve an easy home game against Mainz for a change.
Category: 1. Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, DFB-Pokal, FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, FSV Mainz 05, Hamburger SV, Matchdays, VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen
Tags: 1. Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, DFB-Pokal, FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, FSV Mainz 05, Hamburger SV, Matchdays, VfL Wolfsburg, Wehen-Wiesbaden, Werder BremenSubscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
The ‘nice’ thing of what came out of the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal, none of those action were shown here. I can only base on what I had been reading to get an idea what happened at those matches while I was sleeping. Thanks for your recap, Jan.
It’s really ironic especially in the case of Schalke and Bayern Munich’s exits, the crisis for both sides had just gotten a little more worse. Congrats to Mainz for their first semi-final of the DFB-Pokal. When I first learned Schalke had been knocked out, I was like ‘Gasp!’ (in regards to Schalke’s exit) before reading of what really happened and Mainz’s historic achievement.
Anyhow, this is puzzling. Bundesliga TV rights here, but not the DFB-Pokal included as well. I am one who does not demand much (considering when I looked back at the days where there’s no Bundesliga on the TV here to begin with). Even if the DFB-Pokal coverage begins from the quarter-final onwards, I don’t mind. I am not optimistic I will get to see any semi-final action here (or even delayed broadcasts for that matter).
I mean, I think it is since the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia, matches has been shown here (apart from the usual Serie A matches) actually.
Posted from
Singapore
-
Diana, I don’t think they started showing the Coppa Italia from the quarter final stage. If I can remember correctly, they showed a couple Round of 16 matches. Anyway I just hope they show the final (hope you’re reading this, Starhub) It’s a big ask though, they even don’t show the Copa Del Rey final.
Posted from
Singapore -
The DFL (German Football League) is already in discussions with the DFB (German FA – who organise and market the DFB-Pokal) to market the rights for the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and national team together. But I don’t know if and when this will happen and how long the current contracts with the TV networks worldwide are running.
Posted from
Germany -
Maybe I am wrong, Ashiq. But I know StarHub do show the Coppa Italia matches, that is for sure. I remembered I once flipped through the channels and I was like thinking ‘What? Coppa Italia on SuperSports?’. Interesting, considering SingTel mio TV has the rights to the Serie A. SingTel and StarHub ’sharing’ the rights when it comes to Italian football…
‘It’s a big ask though, they even don’t show the Copa Del Rey final.’
Yeah. Barcelona and Atletic Bilbao in the final. Already I read that the semi-final second-leg match between Bilbao and Mallorca, Bilbao actually overcame the deficit in the first-leg to go through to the final.Anyhow, I agree with you Ashiq that it is a big ask for the DFB-Pokal final to be shown here. The German football bosses can talk about more countries are showing German football but, it is a very different story altogether when it comes to the DFB-Pokal. If there is the FA Cup from England, Italy’s Coppa Italia on our TV here, why no DFB-Pokal? It is only when the domestic cup competitions come around, I learn more of the clubs which are always not in the spotlight. Those outside the top-flight playing in the cup competition. It’s always exciting learning about those clubs and that is what I like to read about.
I had already knew about Mainz before they are through to the semi-finals thanks to Juergen Klopp (now at Borussia Dortmund) who was the coach there before, when Mainz was in the Bundesliga in the 2006/07 season (the first season I follow the Bundesliga at the same time). But it is this DFB-Pokal when I know about Wehen-Wiesbaden for the very first time. That is the beauty of cup competitions.
Posted from
Singapore -
Damn it, Jan. Damn it! I have no idea you post before me.
It’s definitely interesting, in regards to what you said. Given of the current situation at the moment here in my country (and where Ashiq is from too), we have the Bundesliga and matches to the German national team here only. Even before we have the Bundesliga here, it’s only matches in regards to the national team. Unless you also want to talk about German clubs which are in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup…
But even in regards to the German national team, it’s not all their matches being shown here actually Jan. Already last year, a handful of friendly matches were not on here. The one against England in November was definitely on here. Bearing in mind all along, we have a sentimental attachment to English football here partly in view of our historical ties to Britain (i.e., the colonial past) and the papers here do devote more columns to the Premier League and the on-goings with the England national team (but then at least whenever the international week comes around, there will be a handful of reports when it comes to the German national team).
But then again, our pay-TV network here (StarHub in this case, given they got the rights to the Bundesliga) have always got the rights to show international matches where the major footballing nations are concerned. That means like England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and even Brazil too. Those national teams will normally get airtime here whenever the international week (World Cup qualifiers, friendlies) come around.
Posted from
Singapore
Comments are closed
Home 
