Bayern Munich have been drawn to face Heidenheim in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals

Bayern Munich have been drawn to face 2.Bundesliga side FC Heidenheim in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal. This will be the third non-Bundesliga side that Bayern will face in this season’s Pokal run as they’ve already defeated both SV Drochtersen/Assel and SV Rodinghausen in previous rounds before defeating Hertha Berlin in extra time. The match between Bayern and Heidenheim will take place the first week of April on either the 2nd or 3rd at the Allianz Arena, the first time Bayern will be the home team in this competition this season.

Of all of the possible opponents Bayern could’ve drawn, Heidenheim certainly would’ve been one of their preferred adversaries. It was either Heidenheim or Paderborn as possible opponents to avoid facing a Bundesliga side, so the route to the final in Berlin just got a little bit easier given that two more Bundesliga sides will be eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The other match-ups for the quarterfinals:

• SC Paderborn - Hamburg
• FC Augsburg - RB Leipzig
• FC Schalke - Werder Bremen

How Bayern and Heidenheim got to the quarter-finals

Bayern:

After narrow wins over non-league sides SV Drochtersen/Assel and SV Rodinghausen, Bayern required extra time to secure a 3-2 win over Hertha Berlin in what was, by far, their most convincing performance in the competition thus far. Both Drochtersen/Assel and SV Rodinghausen bunkered down defensively against Bayern and proved difficult to breakdown, and Heidenheim will likely take the same approach at the Allianz Arena, so Niko Kovac will have to work on his tactics to try and combat that.

Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images

Heidenheim:

Heidenheim have had quite an impressive DFB-Pokal campaign thus far, having accumulated a goal difference of +7 (10 goals for, 3 against). They disposed of Regionalliga side Jeddeloh 5-2 and then 2. Liga rivals SV Sandhausen 3-0 before shocking Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at the Voith Arena. If their win over Leverkusen is any precursor to the defensive tactics and shape they’ll deploy against Bayern, Kovac’s side could be in for a long night when they square off in Munich.

(Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images)