There are two weeks until the semi-finalists of the DFB Pokal battle it out for a place in the final in the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 27th May. Borussia Mönchengladbach entertain Eintracht Frankfurt on 25th April (20:45 CEST) and a day later at the same time, FC Bayern München welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Allianz Arena in a repeat of last year’s final. We’ve taken a look at the current form of the four semi-finalists.
FC Bayern München
PERSONNEL: The reigning champions do currently have a couple of injury concerns. Thomas Müller (ankle) and Manuel Neuer (foot) both returned to team training on Sunday. Mats Hummels has picked up an ankle injury and will miss Bayern’s Champions League quarterfinal fist leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday (20:45 CEST).
FORM: The mid-week defeat to TSG Hoffenheim was a minor blip in what has otherwise been a superb run of form for Bayern. Their 4-1 win against Dortmund in the German ‘Clasico’ on Saturday evening, with distinguished individual performances from wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry, showed that the set-back against TSG was just a minor one. Bayern’s record since their mini-blip in late autumn is nothing short of phenomenal. Since 26th November they’ve played 22 competitive games, winning 19, drawing two and losing just one, with a goal ratio of 62-10. Striker Robert Lewandowski has scored 25 of these, the last two of which came at the weekend against his former club Dortmund.
QUOTES: "We played well, everything went well," said head coach Carlo Ancelotti. "We’re ready for Real." Captain Philipp Lahm analysed the situation, saying, "When you play this well against a very strong opponent which is also in the quarterfinal of the Champions League then you can be very happy. There wasn’t much we could’ve improved on." Goalscorer Arjen Robben added, "We expected a very difficult game, but we didn’t give them a chance. We played very well and it was a lot of fun. It gives us confidence."
Borussia Dortmund
PERSONNEL: There’s been some good news on the Dortmund injury front recently. Marco Reus is back in training, but it’s still uncertain as to when he will return to first team action. "We’re thinking about how to bring him back into the team. We’re hopeful, but we don’t want to injure him again," said Dortmund‘s Coach Thomas Tuchel on Reus‘ chances of being fit for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday against AS Monaco (20:45 CEST). Three players who won’t be fit for mid-week are Erik Durm (muscle problems), André Schürrle (bruised ankle) and Mario Götze (metabolic disorder). Gonzalo Castro, Lukasz Piszczek, Julian Weigl and Shinji Kagawa should all be fit.
FORM: Dortmund will have split opinions on their performance against Bayern on Saturday. The defence appeared weak against Bayern’s free-flowing attackers; however, BVB did create chances in attack. Since back-to-back defeats against Darmstadt and Benfica in February, Borussia had been on a good run until Saturday. In their last nine matches, Dortmund have recorded seven victories and one draw, scoring 29 goals and conceding just five in the process. Top Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has netted eleven of these 29 goals.
QUOTES: "Anything other than this dominance and this result would have surprised me," said Tuchel. "That’s the highest level that Bayern offer. It’s similar to away games in Barcelona and Madrid. When we have to rely on reserve players, six players who have never before played here in Munich and players like Sebastian Rode, who was making his first appearance in half a year, then the task is too difficult. This defeat is a bitter experience, but it will help us to perform better in future knock-out games." Felix Passlack added, "You have to accept that Bayer were better. They were tougher in the challenges, found space better and were more effective in front of goal. We needed to score the first goal and then perhaps the game would’ve been different."
Borussia Mönchengladbach
PERSONNEL: Borussia have had to replace three players in the line-up recently: world champion Chrisoph Kramer will be out with a knee injury for multiple weeks, whilst Tony Jantschke and Fabian Johnson should be fit soon.
FORM: The Foals have crushed their opposition in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year. Borussia’s side managed to pick up seven of a possible nine points during the last week of hectic Bundesliga fixtures, amongst which an emotional 3-2 derby win over 1. FC Köln on Saturday was included. Just like that, Gladbach have re-emerged as Europa League contenders. Borussia have for the most part enjoyed a lot of success in the league since bringing in Dieter Hecking as their manager: On Matchday 16, Gladbach were 14th, with only three more points than the team in 16th, and eleven points behind sixth. The team has collected 23 points under Dieter Hecking, and only FC Bayern have collected more points over these 12 games, with 29 points. That total is good enough to have them sit in eighth place, which is two points behind a Europa League place and ten points ahead of the relegation place.
QUOTES: “We played a really good game and were totally dominant,” said Hecking after the victory in Cologne. “But when you allow a team to equalise twice, then it could be the case that the opposing team uses the momentum to take the upper-hand in the game, and go on to score a third. We dealt with this situation well, and put on the pressure ourselves to finally claim a deserved derby victory.” Goalscorer Ibrahima Traoré was of a similar opinion: “We controlled the game from the first minute and were the better team over the course of the 90 minutes.”
Eintracht Frankfurt
PERSONNEL: The Eintracht Frankfurt medical bay is indeed rather full. Forward Alexander Meier (foot) and Guillermo Varela (ankle) are questionable to return, whilst Bamba Anderson and Yanni Regäsel (hip) are in rehab. Alongside them are Makoto Hasebe and Slobodan Medojevic (knee), who are both expected to be out indefinitely.
FORM: Eintracht are looking to break a streak of nine consecutive game without a win. Frankfurt were dominant in their 2-2 draw against Werder, but were let down by their ability to finish in front of goal. Niko Kovac’s side were at least successful in overcoming a 2-0 deficit to gain a point, which was some consolation for the Frankfurt fans. The last game in which Frankfurt won by more than a goal came on 5th February 2017, against Darmstadt 98.
QUOTES: SGE coach Niko Kovac was impressed with the willpower that his side in the game: “It was a great point to have won, compliments to the boys. We tried to stay calm after Werder’s second goal, and that’s something easier said than done. I demanded that the team make it 2-1 quickly, and that’s exactly what they managed to do. Then we came into our groove.” Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky elaborated: “The point was very important for us mentally. The goal that came shortly before the break was crucial, but we put the pressure on Bremen successfully. We’re not having much luck as of late and we have to fight hard for our points.”
There are two weeks until the semi-finalists of the DFB Pokal battle it out for a place in the final in the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 27th May. Borussia Mönchengladbach entertain Eintracht Frankfurt on 25th April (20:45 CEST) and a day later at the same time, FC Bayern München welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Allianz Arena in a repeat of last year’s final. We’ve taken a look at the current form of the four semi-finalists.
FC Bayern München
PERSONNEL: The reigning champions do currently have a couple of injury concerns. Thomas Müller (ankle) and Manuel Neuer (foot) both returned to team training on Sunday. Mats Hummels has picked up an ankle injury and will miss Bayern’s Champions League quarterfinal fist leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday (20:45 CEST).
FORM: The mid-week defeat to TSG Hoffenheim was a minor blip in what has otherwise been a superb run of form for Bayern. Their 4-1 win against Dortmund in the German ‘Clasico’ on Saturday evening, with distinguished individual performances from wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry, showed that the set-back against TSG was just a minor one. Bayern’s record since their mini-blip in late autumn is nothing short of phenomenal. Since 26th November they’ve played 22 competitive games, winning 19, drawing two and losing just one, with a goal ratio of 62-10. Striker Robert Lewandowski has scored 25 of these, the last two of which came at the weekend against his former club Dortmund.
QUOTES: "We played well, everything went well," said head coach Carlo Ancelotti. "We’re ready for Real." Captain Philipp Lahm analysed the situation, saying, "When you play this well against a very strong opponent which is also in the quarterfinal of the Champions League then you can be very happy. There wasn’t much we could’ve improved on." Goalscorer Arjen Robben added, "We expected a very difficult game, but we didn’t give them a chance. We played very well and it was a lot of fun. It gives us confidence."
Borussia Dortmund
PERSONNEL: There’s been some good news on the Dortmund injury front recently. Marco Reus is back in training, but it’s still uncertain as to when he will return to first team action. "We’re thinking about how to bring him back into the team. We’re hopeful, but we don’t want to injure him again," said Dortmund‘s Coach Thomas Tuchel on Reus‘ chances of being fit for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday against AS Monaco (20:45 CEST). Three players who won’t be fit for mid-week are Erik Durm (muscle problems), André Schürrle (bruised ankle) and Mario Götze (metabolic disorder). Gonzalo Castro, Lukasz Piszczek, Julian Weigl and Shinji Kagawa should all be fit.
FORM: Dortmund will have split opinions on their performance against Bayern on Saturday. The defence appeared weak against Bayern’s free-flowing attackers; however, BVB did create chances in attack. Since back-to-back defeats against Darmstadt and Benfica in February, Borussia had been on a good run until Saturday. In their last nine matches, Dortmund have recorded seven victories and one draw, scoring 29 goals and conceding just five in the process. Top Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has netted eleven of these 29 goals.
QUOTES: "Anything other than this dominance and this result would have surprised me," said Tuchel. "That’s the highest level that Bayern offer. It’s similar to away games in Barcelona and Madrid. When we have to rely on reserve players, six players who have never before played here in Munich and players like Sebastian Rode, who was making his first appearance in half a year, then the task is too difficult. This defeat is a bitter experience, but it will help us to perform better in future knock-out games." Felix Passlack added, "You have to accept that Bayer were better. They were tougher in the challenges, found space better and were more effective in front of goal. We needed to score the first goal and then perhaps the game would’ve been different."
Borussia Mönchengladbach
PERSONNEL: Borussia have had to replace three players in the line-up recently: world champion Chrisoph Kramer will be out with a knee injury for multiple weeks, whilst Tony Jantschke and Fabian Johnson should be fit soon.
FORM: The Foals have crushed their opposition in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year. Borussia’s side managed to pick up seven of a possible nine points during the last week of hectic Bundesliga fixtures, amongst which an emotional 3-2 derby win over 1. FC Köln on Saturday was included. Just like that, Gladbach have re-emerged as Europa League contenders. Borussia have for the most part enjoyed a lot of success in the league since bringing in Dieter Hecking as their manager: On Matchday 16, Gladbach were 14th, with only three more points than the team in 16th, and eleven points behind sixth. The team has collected 23 points under Dieter Hecking, and only FC Bayern have collected more points over these 12 games, with 29 points. That total is good enough to have them sit in eighth place, which is two points behind a Europa League place and ten points ahead of the relegation place.
QUOTES: “We played a really good game and were totally dominant,” said Hecking after the victory in Cologne. “But when you allow a team to equalise twice, then it could be the case that the opposing team uses the momentum to take the upper-hand in the game, and go on to score a third. We dealt with this situation well, and put on the pressure ourselves to finally claim a deserved derby victory.” Goalscorer Ibrahima Traoré was of a similar opinion: “We controlled the game from the first minute and were the better team over the course of the 90 minutes.”
Eintracht Frankfurt
PERSONNEL: The Eintracht Frankfurt medical bay is indeed rather full. Forward Alexander Meier (foot) and Guillermo Varela (ankle) are questionable to return, whilst Bamba Anderson and Yanni Regäsel (hip) are in rehab. Alongside them are Makoto Hasebe and Slobodan Medojevic (knee), who are both expected to be out indefinitely.
FORM: Eintracht are looking to break a streak of nine consecutive game without a win. Frankfurt were dominant in their 2-2 draw against Werder, but were let down by their ability to finish in front of goal. Niko Kovac’s side were at least successful in overcoming a 2-0 deficit to gain a point, which was some consolation for the Frankfurt fans. The last game in which Frankfurt won by more than a goal came on 5th February 2017, against Darmstadt 98.
QUOTES: SGE coach Niko Kovac was impressed with the willpower that his side in the game: “It was a great point to have won, compliments to the boys. We tried to stay calm after Werder’s second goal, and that’s something easier said than done. I demanded that the team make it 2-1 quickly, and that’s exactly what they managed to do. Then we came into our groove.” Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky elaborated: “The point was very important for us mentally. The goal that came shortly before the break was crucial, but we put the pressure on Bremen successfully. We’re not having much luck as of late and we have to fight hard for our points.”
