The DFB Pokal Semifinals draw took place on Saturday evening. With the three top clubs in the Bundesliga, we were destined for an excellent match-up, and we got it.
Feb 12, 2012 - The draw for the DFB Pokal Semifinals was completed Saturday evening in Berlin. The top three teams in the Bundesliga are still involved in the competition along with the current fourth place side in the 2.Bundesliga. The matches are scheduled to take place March 20 and 21.
Fürth are currently sitting in fourth place in the 2.Bundesliga and are primed to make another run at getting into one of the top three positions for a shot at promotion. They always seem to miss out on the promotion playoffs by just a few points. They've had quite the interesting run to get to the semifinals. The last two rounds have seen them pick up 1-0 victories on the road against Bundesliga sides Nürnberg and Hoffenheim. While neither of those clubs are of the quality of their opponents in the semifinals, the fact that they were able to go on the road and pick up two clean sheet victories against Bundesliga clubs is quite impressive.
Their opponents are last season's Bundesliga champions. Borussia Dortmund enter the semifinals with the easiest road having not defeated a side from the Bundesliga. While they did defeat current 2.Bundesliga leaders Fortuna Dusseldorf, their quarterfinal opponents were lowly fourth division side Holstein Kiel, and they dispatched them with ease. Dortmund will be expected to win this match-up without a lot of problems.
These two teams will face each other for the third time this season. Gladbach will be looking to pick up their third victory over Bayern this season. They somehow managed to open the Hinründe and Rückrunde with 0-1 and 3-1 victories. Gladbach's run to the semifinals has been seen them dispatch two Bundesliga clubs. Just before Christmas, they smashed Schalke 3-1 at Borussia Park. They went on the road in the quarterfinals and saw off Hertha Berlin in extra time. Confidence won't be an issue for the hosts, and they will likely be favored coming into this match.
Bayern had the most impressive victory in the quarterfinals traveling to the Mercedes-Benz Arena and defeating Stuttgart 2-0. They knocked off two clubs from the 2.Bundesliga in the previous two rounds. The first saw them crush Ingolstadt 6-0 and gain a 90th minute winner from Arjen Robben to beat Bochum 2-1. Gladbach has handed Bayern two of their five losses this season. In the matches, Manuel Neuer has not just been bad, but he's been embarrassingly bad. This is one of three potential trophies that the Bayern supporters have targeted for this season. They'll need a much better performance this time to not fall to Gladbach for the third time this season.
0 comments
DFB Pokal 2012, Semifinal Draw: Dortmund Visit Fürth, Gladbach Host Bayern
Feb 12
