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Borussia Dortmund defeated DFB-Pokal's biggest Cinderella, Holstein Kiel on Tuesday. Wednesday features three matches, including Bayern Munich-Stuttgart.
The semifinals of the DFB-Pokal are set as Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Borussia Moenchengladbach and surprising second-division Greuther Fuerth have played their way into the final four of Germany's cup competition. Dortmund took care of work on Tuesday and Bayern took down Stuttgart, but 'Gladbach and Greuther Fuerth advanced out of a pair of interesting and surprising matches. The two semifinals will be played on March 20th and 21st.
It's time to start wondering how much longer Holger Stanislawski will be in charge of Hoffenheim. Their Bundesliga struggles were one thing, but now they've been eliminated from the DFB-Pokal by a second division side and at home to boot. Marvin Compper didn't do his team any favors either, getting himself sent off in the 36th minute after an altercation with a Greuther Fuerth player. Not even 10 minutes later, Olivier Occean struck for the underdog visitors and they were on their way to their first semifinal appearance in club history.
For 100 minutes, neither Hertha nor 'Gladbach could find a breakthrough, but then the referee controversially got involved in the 101st minute and the visitors were on their way to a win. A very harsh red card on Roman Hubnik saw Hertha not just go down to 10 men, but 'Gladbach go in front as it was also a penalty, which Filip Daems converted. Down a man and chasing a goal, Hertha had no chance and when they opened up Oscar Wendt added a second gor the visitors.
Bayern Munich hasn't been so great lately in Bundesliga play, but they didn't have any problems in Wednesday's DFB-Pokal quarterfinal at Stuttgart. They dominated from the very opening kick and rode goals by Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez to a 2-0 win and spot in the semifinals.
It wasn't all good for Bayern Munich though and nothing went their way early on. Bastian Schweinsteiger hobbled off the field after just 15 minutes with an ankle injury and the day looked looked doomed. Then, Toni Kroos hit the cross bar and sent another shot just over the top of the bar. It looked like the gods were working against Bayern.
After a half-hour, Bayern finally broke the deadlock. Thomas Mueller got free down the right and delivered a good, low cross, which found a streaking Ribery for the opening tally. Bayern created more chances, but didn't find a second goal until just after halftime when Gomez got on the end of another Mueller cross, only to see it saved. Gomez got to his own rebound though to bang the ball home and double the Bayern lead.
Even up 2-0, the visitors kept pushing and if anyone was going to get another goal, it always looked like it would be Bayern. They didn't get another goal, but they did finish off Stuttgart with ease to get a semifinal spot.
Holstein Kiel advanced through three rounds of the DFB-Pokal without conceding a goal, but they finally met their match in the quarterfinals of the competition against Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. They upset Bundesliga side Mainz in the last round, but the second-placed team in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nord was unable to overcome Der BVB, who coasted to a 4-0 victory.
The home side actually looked very lively and able to cope with their visitors in the opening 10 minutes, but once they gave up a goal, the match felt all but over. Following a botched clearance in the 11th minute, Ivan Perisic played an overhead kick pass into the penalty area for Robert Lewandowski, who had a simple finish to give his team the lead.
Shinji Kagawa scored his team's second goal just seven minutes later, and they let up on the gas a bit at that point. Holstein Kiel kept themselves together and avoided embarrassment for a while, but Lucas Barrios looked determined to make an impact when he came on as a sub. He added his team's third goal in the 80th minute before Perisic netted a goal of his own and ended the scoring in the 87th.
For the most part, the quarterfinals of the 2011-12 DFB-Pokal looks like it should. The country's two best teams, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, still remain in the competition. There are four other Bundesliga teams remaining, none of which are in the drop zone. There's one 2. Bundesliga side remaining, SpVgg Greuther Fürth. They're third in the second division with the best goal differential and they've been in the top half of the second division for a decade.
Then, there's Holstein Kiel. They're second in their region of the fourth tier of German football, sitting behind RB Leipzig in the Regionalliga Nord. Though there's no shame in sitting behind a rich team funded by a large soft drink company, the point still stands that this is a fourth division team. Not only a fourth division team, but one unlikely to get promoted to the third division this season. They have made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the German Cup.
On Tuesday, they host Borussia Dortmund, whose B side will probably beat the living tar out of them. They have done absolutely brilliantly to defeat Energie Cottbus, MSV Duisburg and Mainz consecutively -- all by multiple goals while keeping a clean sheet -- but the dream is likely over. They've worked miracles before, though, so it might be worth tuning in.
In Wednesday's early games, Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach will be fairly heavy favorites to advance, though it will be interesting to see if they do treat this as an opportunity to win a trophy and play full-strength sides. The highlight of the round is the final game, in which Stuttgart host Bayern Munich.
Schedule
Holstein Kiel vs. Borussia Dortmund - Tuesday, 2:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. local
Hoffenheim vs. SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Wednesday, 1:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. local
Hertha Berlin vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach - Wednesday, 1:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. local
VfB Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich - Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. local
DFB Pokal 2012, Semifinal Draw: Dortmund Visit Fürth, Gladbach Host Bayern
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.
Greuther Fürth vs Borussia Dortmund
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.
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Bayern Munich
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.
Feb 12 12:37a by Phillip Quinn - 0 comments