“I think every cup competition is really good,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic ahead of the second round proper in the DFB-Pokal. On Wednesday evening (kick-off: 18:00), TSG 1899 Hoffenheim will be the guests at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.

“By Thursday, for one of the teams, the competition will be over. That’s what gives it its special charm. It’s a normal football game, just like every week, but there are no draws – there has to be a winner and a loser,” said Terzic, explaining why he is such a fan of cup competitions. In the first round proper of this year’s competition in mid-August, the Black and Yellows beat TSV Schott Mainz 6-1, while Hoffenheim qualified with a 4-1 away win at VfB Lübeck.   

A second encounter this season 

It was not until the end of September that the two teams met for the first time this season. BVB travelled to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga and won 3-1 thanks to goals from Niclas Füllkrug, Marco Reus and Julian Ryerson. “Since then, they have had three games. They were exceptionally good in two of them, especially the two away games. They were probably not so happy with the match against Eintracht Frankfurt,” Terzic said about Dortmund’s next opponents. “In all three games, they took the lead very early. They were on it from the outset, and we are prepared for that.” Hoffenheim have won both of their last two away games 3-2 (in Stuttgart and Bremen), either side of a 3-1 home defeat against Frankfurt. TSG have not dropped a single point away from home in the Bundesliga this season, claiming five wins from five games on the road.  

BVB themselves are unbeaten in seven games across all competitions. Their last match was a hard-fought 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, in which BVB came back from behind on two occasions. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel bruised his nose bone in that game, but Edin Terzic is expecting that he will be able to take part in the final training session ahead of the game, and the same goes for Mats Hummels, who also had to be taken off due to injury. “There are question marks over some players, but as things stand, no one is definitely out for the cup game,” said the coach about his squad.

A third meeting in the cup

The two sides have so far met twice in the DFB-Pokal, both times in the quarter-finals, and SIGNAL IDUNA PARK was the stage for both games. In February 2008, BVB won 3-1 against a Hoffenheim side who were still in Germany’s second tier at the time. In April 2015, the Black and Yellows edged a close game 3-2 win after extra-time. The goal on Wednesday will be to secure a place in the last 16. “We will prepare meticulously and professionally to give it our all to play a really good home game and show everyone that we have big plans in this competition and want to make it into the next round with a home win,” said Terzic.
Christina Reinke

BVB TV by 1&1: The press conference before the match against Hoffenheim