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The draw for the Round of the 16 in the DFB Pokal has concluded, and Bayern Munich will face SV Darmstadt 98 in the next round if they defeat Holstein Kiel on January 13th in their second round matchup (DFB). All of the Second Round matches have already been played bar Bayern’s match against Holstein Kiel and Bayer Levekrusen’s match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Of course, Bayern would’ve already played their Second Round match against Holstein Kiel at this point, December 23rd to be precise, but they lodged an official request to the DFB to have their match postponed due to severe fixture congestion. Bayer Leverkusen had filed an official complaint to the DFB when Bayern’s match got moved back ahead of their massive clash on December 19th because they felt Bayern was getting the royal treatment once again, but Leverkusen also had their match against Frankfurt rescheduled to January 12th. It’s worth noting that Bayern’s first round Pokal win against FC Düren had been rescheduled too due to Bayern’s excursions in both the DFL and UEFA Supercups in September.
For Darmstadt, they’ve made it to the Round of 16 by virtue of an extra time, 3-2 win over FC Magdeburg in the first round and a 3-0 win over Dynamo Dresden in the second round. Despite making it this far in the Pokal, Darmstadt find themselves on the wrong end of the 2.Bundesliga table and face Hannover 96, Heidenheim, and Holstein Kiel in their next three matches, who are all sides in the top 10 of the 2.Bundesliga. By the time they face either Bayern or Holstein Kiel in the round of 16 in the DFB Pokal, they could be dangerously close to the relegation zone.
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A look at the rest of the round of 16 draw results:
- VfL Wolfsburg - Schalke 04
- VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Monchengladbach
- Werder Bremen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth
- RB Leipzig - VfL Bochum
- Borussia Dortmund - SC Paderborn
- Jahn Regensburg - FC Köln
- Rot-Weiss Essen - Bayer Leverkusen/Eintracht Frankfurt
All of the round of 16 matches are slated to be played on the 2nd and 3rd of February assuming there are no scheduling interruptions due to the coronavirus or fixture congestion. For Bayern, if they were to advance to this round, the match against Darmstadt would be in between a home Bundesliga encounter with Hoffenheim, who they lost to 4-1 in Sinsheim, and a match at Hertha Berlin.