German Cup: Banged up Bayern gearing up for Rödinghausen tie
October 29, 2018
Bayern Munich are set to take a depleted squad to their German Cup second-round match against fourth-tier SV Rödinghausen on Tuesday. Alongside long-term absentees Corentin Tolisso and Kingsley Coman, head coach Niko Kovac (pictured above) will also be without Arjen Robben (back), Jerome Boateng (stomach virus) and James Rodriguez (illness). Meanwhile, backup goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, whose wife is expecting, is also unavailable.
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Furthermore, Mats Hummels and Leon Goretzka are both carrying knocks sustained in Bayern's 2-1 win over Mainz on Saturday.
"We'll have to make a last-minute decision whether they can play," Kovac said on Monday before going on to say that he would call up "three, maximum four players" from the reserves for the game to be played in Osnabrück.
Dortmund not on the mind
According to Kovac, however, the personnel problems have no impact on the team's goal: "The priority in the cup is to make it to the next round," he said.
In light of the nervy 1-0 win over another fourth-tier side, SV Drochtersen/Assel in the first round, the Croatian stressed that Bayern "won't be underestimating any opponents – we're taking it very seriously. We're the clear favorites, but we have to produce the right performance on the day in order to come away victorious."
Reports of the Bavarians' demise have proved premature, but even though they are "back on the path to success," Kovac was keen to avoid any talk of the clash with Borussia Dortmund on November 10.
"It's too far away. For me, it's not interesting yet," he said. "The important thing is to win the three games before then so that we go to Dortmund feeling good."
After the game against Rödinghausen in midweek, Bayern take on Freiburg in the Bundesliga before the reverse tie against AEK Athens in the Champions League group stage.
'We drew the biggest team possible'
Not suprisingly, for Rödinghausen and coach Enrico Maassen, Tuesday's tie is set to be the biggest game in the club's history..
"It's unbelievable," said Maassen, who lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first round of the 2016-17 campaign while he was head coach of Drochtersen/Assel, the team Bayern dispatched of in the previous round.
"We wanted one of the big teams and we ended up getting the biggest team,” the 34-year-old told the Westfälische Nachrichten newspaper.
Based in a municipality with a population of just 10,000 inhabitants, Rödinghausen weren't able to host the match on home turf as the Häcker Wiehenstadion has a capacity of just over 2,500. Instead the club and fans will have to make a 40 kilometer (25 miles) trip to Osnabrück's Stadion an der Bremer Brücke, which has a capacity of 16,600.
Bayern's last visit to the stadium, 14 years ago, ended in a 3-2 win over then-fourth-tier VfL Osnabrück, which came on a last-minute winner from Roy Makaay. On Tuesday, Rödinghausen will be hoping to go one better.