The first match-up of this year’s competition already promises to be special, as our opponents fall under the same footballing authority – the South Baden Football Association. Fifth-division side SV Oberachern have qualified for the Pokal for the second time in a row, as winners of the South Baden Cup. Last season, the men from Ortenau exited in the first round, also at the Dreisamstadion, as they succumbed to a defeat at the hands of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Fulham have been a classic yo-yo team in recent years. The West London outfit spent five seasons continuously oscillating between the first and second tiers. “Too good for the Championship, too bad for the Premier League,” was said of the club, who have still never won a title in their long history. But coach Marco Silva, who took over at Fulham in July 2021 after they had been relegated, brought success back to the banks of the Thames. The Portuguese immediately guided the club to promotion in his first year with a points record for the second tier and then put an end to the team’s yo-yo times and steered them to a comfortable 10th position in the table – two places ahead of rivals Chelsea.

Our defensive general talks about the upcoming season, the summer arrivals, and his special connection to RB Leipzig.

Those results along with Conte’s health problems – he had his gallbladder removed on February 1 – have accelerated speculation that the Italian’s tenure is coming to an end and he was cagey about how the coming months looked when quizzed on this latest blow for the north London club.

For the spectators at Bochum’s Ruhrstadion, the “Little Derby” was top class. It was end to end. Borussia’s superiority against a passionately defending VfL side was overwhelming in the closing stages. But after the furious start and Adeyemi’s early equaliser (7), they could only get the better of VfL custodian Riemann once more – despite creating a series of high-quality chances. And Hummels’ goal in the 90th minute did not count due to a narrow offside, which the officiating team did spot – unlike the foul on Can which enabled the pass to Asano before the opening goal, unlike the clear offence against Adeyemi in the box and unlike the handball by Masovic, which was particularly irksome from BVB’s point of view because Bochum had been awarded a penalty for a lot, lot less at the same stadium in the DFB-Pokal several weeks earlier.

Neuhaus on board as Foals turn focus to the start of the competitive season The Foals...

Werder’s first competitive fixture of the 2023/24 season will take place on Saturday, 12th August at 15:30 CEST against Viktoria Köln in the DFB-Pokal. Head coach Ole Werner enthusiastically answered some questions from journalists in the first pre-match press conference of the new campaign. “I’m looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere and emotions of a matchday again after two and a half months off – that’s the icing on the cake for me”, said Werner. “That’s the whole reason why you play football. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.”

The website was rather vague on the length of Copado’s absence, only saying that he would miss “multiple” games. Bayern’s website is not very consistent with its’ diagnosis with injuries, though. For example, new signing Javier Fernandez was said to be ruled out for multiple weeks but appeared in a match within a week of that diagnosis. We will see how accurate the diagnosis of Copado’s injury will turn out to be.

Across the 194 pages, fans will find lots of information all about TSG Hoffenheim. The Season Guide focuses on all current and important topics as well as extensively covering the history of the club. In the preview of the new season, there is a profile on head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, while the youth teams and the TSG Women are presented in detail too.

The best pictures from Cottaweg before the trip to Munich