Meet Bayern Munich’s DFB Pokal opponent: FC Drochtersen/Assel

David vs. Goliath scenarios are quite prevalent in cup competitions throughout Europe, and often times, it makes for incredibly momentous occasions for some of the teams that play in the lower divisions, well below the top flights.

Such will be the case this weekend when Bayern Munich travel northwest to take on FC Drochtersen/Assel, who play their football in the fourth tier of Germany’s football league system; Regionalliga Nord. As always, the lower [non-Bundesliga] seed in the tie gets home field advantage, if you even want to call it that, but it’s still, nonetheless, a fantastic opportunity to host Bundesliga giants like Bayern.

Ahead of the match, Drochtersen’s mayor, Mike Eckhoff said that everyone in the city is highly anticipating the excitement around the fixture, as it’s a once in a lifetime type of opportunity for the players and fans. Speaking to the German Press Agency (via FCBayern.com), Eckhoff described the current feeling around the city in the buildup to the match itself:

It’s the match of the century. There’s never been anything like it here before. People are fired up, something like this may happen here once in 100 years.

Drochtersen defender, Meickel Klee also weighed in on just how excited all of the fans are for Bayern to come to town, even more so than the majority of the players in the squad:

People are in a frenzy. They’ve been up for this game for weeks. Some of them are even more up for it than we players are.

Because of the huge draw Bayern’s bringing to the encounter, Drochtersen are increasing the capacity of their home ground at the Kehdinger stadium from 3,000 to 7,500 seats by using temporary seating. They had the option to change the venue to FC St. Pauli’s Millerntor Stadium to accommodate a higher attendance, but ultimately chose to keep the tie at their beloved, home Kehdinger stadium. The decision bears added sentiment, says Drochtersen/Assel president, Rigo Gooßen:

We wanted to stay in Drochtersen. We want a game for the people and the region that will live on in memory.

Grid View

• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images)
• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images)
• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images
• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images)
• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images)
• FC Drochtersen/Assel’s home ground (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Bongarts/Getty Images)

For the majority of the player’s in Drochtersen’s squad, they’ll be putting their day jobs on hold for this weekend’s encounter of a lifetime. Klee, a bricklayer by trade, is chomping at the bit to go up against the reigning Bundesliga champions and admitted that he’s been a Bayern fan for over two decades now:

I’ve been a fan of Bayern for 23 years. It’s like winning the lottery. Otherwise, there’d be no point in turning up.

While the odds are overwhelmingly in Bayern’s favor, nothing is impossible in football. Drochtersen gave Borussia Monchengladbach quite a run for their money in 2016 at the Kehdinger Stadium in the DFB-Pokal, as the Bundesliga side only came out 1-0 victors thanks to a second half goal from Julian Korb. Regardless of the result vs. Bayern, this is going to be an occasion that the city of Drochtersen will remember for the rest of their lives, and for Bayern, it will serve as a good opportunity for Niko Kovac to perhaps experiment with some of the fringe players in his squad.

(Photo by Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images)