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On paper, it's a lock. Bayern Munich will beat Darmstadt to advance to the quarterfinals in the DFB Pokal. However, they don't play cup competitions on paper, so FC Bayern will have to earn it on the field.
It won't be easy. Pep Guardiola will be without star players Arjen Robben, Mario Götze, David Alaba, Douglas Costa, Franck Ribery, and Medhi Benatia as they continue to recover from injuries. Still, when Bayern can throw Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski (to name a few) at you, things will be difficult on the field.
"Survive and advance" is Darmstadt's policy at this point. They're not going to beat FC Bayern in a shootout, so holding out for an extremely low scoring game is the objective. Can Marcel Heller find a way to crack the defense that's only allowed eight league goals so far this season?
DFB Pokal Round of 16
December 15
SpVgg Unterhaching vs Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Werder Bremen
Erzgebirge Aue vs FC Heidenheim
Bayern Munich vs Darmstadt
December 16
FC Nürnberg vs Hertha Berlin
VfB Stuttgart vs Eintracht Braunschweig
1860 Munich vs VfL Bochum
FC Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund
Once the lineups are released, this thread will be updated.
Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Time: 8:30 pm local time, 2:30 pm ET
TV/Streaming: USA (ESPN Deportes, ESPN 3, Watch ESPN), Germany (Sky Sport 2 | HD, Sky Go, B5 aktuell, ARD Das Erste, TeleClub Sport Live)
Full Listings: Other Countries
Bayern Munich
Kingsley Coman - Robert Lewandowski - Thomas Müller
Xabi Alonso - Arturo Vidal - Joshua Kimmich
Rafinha - Javi Martinez - Jerome Boateng - Philipp Lahm
Manuel Neuer
Bench: Sven Ulreich, Thiago, Jan Kirchhoff, Sebastian Rode, Holger Badstuber
Darmstadt
TBD
Bench: TBD
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