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Essen / Kiel (dpa / lno) - Whoever eliminates record champions Bayern Munich must not get weak knees in front of a regional league team.
"It's a great opportunity for us," said coach Ole Werner before the DFB Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) at outsider Rot-Weiss Essen.
"It's a special game for our team, a special game for our club," said the 32-year-old coach.
KSV Holstein has never been in the cup semi-finals.
Werner knows that Essen is a serious rival as the conqueror of Arminia Bielefeld, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bayer Leverkusen.
"It will be a tough job," said the coach.
Except for the injured Stefan Thesker (tear of the Achilles tendon) and Noah Awuku (tear of the Achilles tendon), all professionals are available to the North Germans.
Attacker Janni Serra may move back into the starting line-up after surviving a torn muscle.
"We assume that it will last for more than 30 minutes," said Werner about the 22-year-old.
Only five days after the cup game, the next highlight awaits its players: the top league game at north rivals Hamburger SV.
The storks opponent from Essen took that of 1. FC Saarbrücken for example in his own cup fairy tale.
The Saarlanders reached the cup semi-finals last year as the first fourth division team in the history of the competition, and RWE now wants to imitate this feat against Kiel.
"We saw Saarbrücken from the start as a possible blueprint," said CEO Marcus Uhlig.
When asked whether he would prefer to win the cup or move up to the third division, Uhlig replied: “Preferably both.
But if I had to make a decision, I would say very clearly: The ascent is above everything ».
Even if the cup competition is extremely lucrative.
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