https://www.espn.co.uk/football/match/_/gameId/671649

When Lokomotiv Leipzig were one of the best teams in East Germany.... time has moved on....

Perhaps @DangerousSausage could highlight any anecdotes from any of the ties

FC-Astoria Walldorf 0 FC Union Berlin 4

As Waldhof Mannheim have chosen not to participate this year (ahem) I haven't been paying as much attention as usual this year. For outsiders, it's important to know that this is not like the FA Cup - only teams from Bundesliga 1 and 2 are guaranteed a starting spot, and the other starters are winners of their regional cup competitions - about half the third division is involved, the rest are scattered around the regional leagues. The first couple of rounds are seeded too, so big away wins are the norm. There have been three upsets so far, all at the hands of third division teams. Teams from lower down don't tend to be competitive at all.

A couple of names stand out though. Astoria Walldorf play regional football at the fourth level and beat Waldhof in the North Baden cup last season. It's always a real banana skin. Walldorf is where the software giant SAP is based, which also sponsors the club and employs some of their players.

Schott Mainz are in there too this year. Schott is the company that makes fancy wine glasses, it's a big employer and has one of Germany's largest company sports clubs with thousands of members. The football team has struggled into the regional fourth division a couple of times, but doesn't have much in the way of fans as far as I remember. They landed Borussia Dortmund!

Harry Kane's first game for Bayern was in the German Cup, correct?

I know people are suggesting he will be fine, but I can see him not having the same effect as he did at Spurs, to the point he drops out of the England team within a few seasons time.

On 15/08/2023 at 16:53, Chris said:

Harry Kane's first game for Bayern was in the German Cup, correct?

No, it was the Super Cup, which is contested between the Bundesliga winners and the German Cup winners. So it's basically like the Charity Shield. Personally I think he'll be fine, he'll get a luxury service at Bayern and will definitely score his goals. The difficulty there tends to be that expectations are so high that nothing less than winning a league and cup double plus the Champions League will do. Managers there have been given their marching orders for "only" winning the Bundesliga.

 

On 13/08/2023 at 22:21, DangerousSausage said:

Teams from lower down don't tend to be competitive at all.

I spoke too soon - fourth division Homburg beat Darmstadt 3-0 on Monday night!

is the german cup their version of the fa or league cup?

i dont know a great deal about german football but the few games i have seen, its quite entertaining.

14 minutes ago, liampie said:

is the german cup their version of the fa or league cup?

i dont know a great deal about german football but the few games i have seen, its quite entertaining.

It's a bit different to both. Unlike the FA Cup, you can't just apply to take part - only Bundesliga 1 and 2 and the top four of the third division have an automatic right to take part. The other participants have to qualify by winning the cup competitions of their regional FA, so you can get pretty big clubs like 1860 Munich and Dynamo Dresden traipsing around village clubs to earn the right to play in the following season's German Cup. But if you do, the seeded draw means you play a team from Bundesliga 1 or 2 at home, so it's a big payday and the Bundesliga clubs take it seriously too.