The 2nd division has kicked off just like the 3rd division – and the Bundesliga teams are also preparing, but are first in demand in the DFB Cup. Who will survive the 1st Round?
The DFB Cup has its own laws – many an outsider has excelled in the history of the tradition-steeped competition and knocked out a first division team. And this year, too, the dreams are big. Borussia Mönchengladbach, Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and Freiburg will all meet first division teams in the first round of the cup who have nothing to lose and can therefore play with complete freedom and hope for a sensation.
As the draw would have it, numerous Bundesliga clubs will meet regional league representatives. VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Darmstadt 98 and Union Berlin are certainly prepared, but they should not underestimate their opponents.
This is all the more true for the teams that have to deal with a third-division team: Werder Bremen travel to Cologne for a clash with FC Viktoria, Bochum challenge Arminia at the Bielefeld Alm, Augsburg have to face SpVgg Unterhaching, who have been promoted to the third division, Hoffenheim go to VfB Lübeck and then there is FC Bayern, who will be at Preußen Münster.
Hardly any Bundesliga team would wish for a second-division team in the first round of the cup – but that is exactly the fate of defending champions RB Leipzig, who have to play SV Wehen Wiesbaden. A similar fate befell 1. FC Köln and 1. FSV Mainz 05. The Geißböcke travel to VfL Osnabrück in Lower Saxony, while the 05ers have to go to SV Elversberg.
