If the second division of the Bundesliga meets the bottom of the second division, the roles could not be more clearly distributed.

A win in Ingolstadt is a must for Marco Roses Dortmund.

The fact that Borussia continues to have major personnel problems in the home game against FC Ingolstadt (8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and at Sport 1) does not change that.

More than half a dozen top performers, including striker Erling Haaland, are not available to BVB. Despite the clear role of favorites, coach Marco Rose warns his team: "If we start to crumble and believe that we can do with a few percent less, then you can run into problems against Ingolstadt."

There are also duels between clubs with a long tradition.

1. FC Nürnberg against Hamburger SV (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on Sky), 1860 Munich against Schalke 04 (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on Sky) - the direct duels of the former First division clubs are reminiscent of once thrilling encounters in the past.

In 1942, for example, the Munich Lions won the first of their two cup wins by beating Schalke 2-0 in the final.

Today the four clubs are primarily concerned with improving their poor financial situation through the potential income of 515,000 euros for reaching the round of 16.

The great outsiders

The two fourth division clubs Preußen Münster and SV Babelsberg 03 are the biggest outsiders in the ongoing competition. Preußen Münster, who has been in the Regionalliga West since relegation in 2020, only made it to the second round anyway because VfL Wolfsburg was denied victory at the beginning after a mistake. Now the people of Münster are dealing with Hertha BSC. Babelsberg, currently sixth in the table in the Regionalliga Nordost, welcomes Champions League participant RB Leipzig (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on Sky).

There is a reunion with his old home for Marcel Rapp, who competes with Holstein Kiel at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on Sky).

Rapp, now head coach at Holstein Kiel, previously worked for ten years in the Kraichgau youth division.

There he was in the 2017/18 season with the U19 season winner of the Bundesliga Southwest.

However, the decisive games for the German championship against Schalke 04 were lost.