Bayern draw Paderborn in German Cup
January 7, 2018
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have had to vanquish difficult opponents in their quest for their 19th German Cup, having to face last year's league runners-up Leipzig and defending Cup champions Borussia Dortmund in the last two rounds.
However, the Bavarian giants got a big break in Sunday's German Cup quarterfinal draw, which took place at the German football museum in Dortmund. Bayern got paired with Paderborn, the only non-Bundesliga club left in the competition.
Paderborn, who play in the third tier of the German football league set-up, has been the surprise team in the German Cup. They have overcome the odds to defeat three second division sides — St. Pauli, Bochum and Ingolstadt — to reach the quarterfinals.
But Paderborn hasn't defeated a Bundesliga side in the German Cup in more than a decade — they shocked Hamburg in the first round of the 2004-05 iteration. Conversely, Bayern Munich haven't lost to a non-first-division side in the German Cup since losing to Aachen in 2003-04 cup quarterfinals.
Regional showcase in Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt and Mainz, whose stadiums are located about 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) away from each other, will face off for just the second time ever in the German Cup.
Frankfurt beat Mainz 1-0 in the second round of the 1987-88 cup — Reinhold Jessl scored eight minutes into extra time to help his side avoid an upset. That began the three-decade Rhine-Main derby, named after the Frankfurt metropolitan region in western Germany in which both cities preside.
Leverkusen will host Werder Bremen, a team they have not defeated in the German Cup in six tries. Schalke and Wolfsburg will square off in the other quarterfinal.