The draw only lasted a few minutes, and then the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup were decided. Ex-soccer player and DFB Cup legend Norbert Dickel was the one who fished the balls out of the pot on Sunday evening in the ARD sports show – in this order:
Union Berlin vs. FC St. Pauli
Hamburger SV vs. Karlsruher SC
Hannover 96 vs. RB Leipzig
VfL Bochum versus SC Freiburg
The second division club FC St. Pauli meets the Bundesliga club Union Berlin in the DFB Cup after their round of 16 coup against last year’s winner Borussia Dortmund. Vice-champion RB Leipzig has to compete as the new top favorite at the second division side Hannover 96. Leipzig’s league rivals VfL Bochum welcome SC Freiburg to the only first division duel of the quarter-finals. Due to the second division comparison of the former cup winners Hamburger SV and Karlsruher SC, the participation in the semi-finals of at least one lower-class team is already certain.
It is only the second time in the history of the cup competition since the introduction of the Bundesliga that four second-division teams have made it into the top eight. In 2004, for the first time, half of all eight quarter-finalists came from the House of Commons. At that time, second division team Alemannia Aachen had also reached the final in Berlin. Today’s third division club MSV Duisburg was the last second division club to reach the cup final in 2011. In this year’s quarter-finals, the cup winners of the past 29 years are missing. Even before cup defender Dortmund, record winner Bayern Munich had failed in the second round.
The quarterfinals will be played on March 1st and 2nd, 2022. The two semifinals will follow on April 19th and 20th and then the final on May 21st in Berlin.