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The DFB Pokal returns this evening, with 16 matches across Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Here are three games to watch across round two of the DFB Pokal.
Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen
It’s the obvious choice, but BVB vs Bremen is clearly the tie of the round on paper. Bremen are flying right now, and their resurgence has been led by club, and at this stage, cult hero, Niclas Füllkrug.
Earlier in the season, Bremen scored two late goals to rescue a point away at Dortmund – Füllkrug grabbing the equaliser against his former employer in the 92nd minute.
Dortmund will have to be clever with their starting lineup selection for this one. With a number of injuries already, they don’t want to risk any further setbacks, particularly ahead of this weekend’s clash against Bayern Munich.
Bremen will arrive with a swagger about them on Tuesday evening; this is a game to certainly keep an eye on.
SSV Jeddeloh II vs Hertha Berlin
The lowest-ranked club left in the competition against the 2. Bundesliga league leaders. They can’t, can they?…
The Regionalliga Nord side stunned second-tier side FC Heidenheim in the first round, beating them 5-2. They’ll need to be on it from the first second once again if they’re to overcome a side gunning for top-flight football next season, but the DFB Pokal always serves up a bit of magic.
It’s a rather strange set of circumstances for Jeddeloh II and their newly appointed head coach Burak Bahar.
The 34-year-old has been brought in to fight relegation as the club currently sit in 13th position. For Bahar personally, it will also be a reunion of sorts as he previously coached Hertha Berlin U17s between 2022 and 2024.
Bahar insists that Jeddeloh II’s ranking in the table doesn’t reflect their quality on the pitch. Ahead of Tuesday’s game, he explained: “We will fight back with all the strength we have. It’s a unique opportunity.”
SC Freiburg vs VfL Wolfsburg
Freiburg have had a solid start to their season, currently sitting in 3rd position in the Bundesliga. For Wolfsburg, they’ve adjusted relatively well to life in the 2. Bundesliga and currently sit 4th just behind the aforementioned Hertha BSC, Kaiserslautern, and Nuremberg.
For the Wolves, this offers a good test to see how much quality is in their side and how far they currently are when it comes to competing in the top flight once again.
For this game, it’ll be interesting to see how summer signing Fabian Reese performs. Having joined from Hertha a few months back, the winger had offers from the Bundesliga but chose Wolfsburg instead (the irony not lost on Hertha fans given their start to the league).
Reese has four goals to his name already this season, which is only beaten by fellow summer signee Robert Glatzel from HSV (5).
Expect a tight game and a possible cup upset at the Europa Park Stadion on Wednesday night.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
