The 2nd round of the DFB Cup is causing surprises. The defending champion is out and a fourth division football team makes it into the round of 16.
Defending champions RB Leipzig missed out on a place in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup and have to bury their hopes of winning the title for the third time in a row. Football coach Marco Rose’s team lost their second round game against league rivals VfL Wolfsburg 0-1 (0-1).
Meanwhile, Union Berlin’s historical negative series continues. The Champions League participant lost 0-1 (0-1) in the Bundesliga duel at VfB Stuttgart and suffered their eleventh competitive defeat in a row. Union coach Urs Fischer saw the red card after the final whistle.
Next setback for Cologne
There was also the next bitter setback for 1. FC Cologne. Three days after losing 6-0 in the league in Leipzig, the Rhinelanders also lost 2-3 (0-1) to second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern despite a late comeback. Borussia Mönchengladbach had no problems winning 3-1 (3-0) at home against 1. FC Heidenheim.
Meanwhile, the cup fairytale of the regional league team FC 08 Homburg has received the next chapter. After the sensational victory in the first round against Bundesliga team Darmstadt 98, the Saarlanders won against second division team Greuther Fürth 2-1 (1-0).
In the second division duel between league leaders FC St. Pauli and crisis club FC Schalke 04, Hamburg won 2-1 (1-1, 0-1) after extra time.
Over for the defending champions
Vaclav Cerny (14th minute) scored the decisive goal for the hosts early in the game in Wolfsburg. Leipzig had to operate outnumbered for long stretches of the second half after Yussuf Poulsen was shown a yellow-red card (56′).
For RB it was the first cup defeat since May 2021. At that time, the Saxons, who were still coached by current national coach Julian Nagelsmann, lost the final in Berlin against Borussia Dortmund, and they won the competition in 2022 and 2023.
In Stuttgart, Deniz Undav (45th) was named man of the game against Union with his goal. The Swabians made it to the semi-finals of the DFB Cup last season.
Fourth division club Homburg, on the other hand, is in the round of 16 for the first time in 28 years. Fabian Eisele (31′) and Phil Harres (83′) scored for the outsiders, Fürth only managed to equalize through Branimir Hrgota (52′).
In Kaiserslautern, Richmond Tachie (19th), Kenny Prince Redondo (47th) and Marlon Ritter (65th) caused the Palatinate surprise. Jan Thielmann (71′) and Mark Uth (81′) were only able to shorten the score for Cologne, while Florian Kainz also saw red for the guests (84′).
Source: Stern
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