Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig are through to the last 16 of the DFB Cup. VfB Stuttgart have to tremble against last year's finalists Kaiserslautern. And Borussia Dortmund fails against Wolfsburg.
Led by defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, most of the favorites have mastered their tasks in the DFB Cup and reached the round of 16. The double winners had no trouble against second division side SV Elversberg and won with. Patrik Schick (2nd minute, 9th) and Spaniard Aleix Garcia (36th) scored for the Werkself. Granit Xhaka was on the pitch until the 69th minute.
Two-time cup winners RB Leipzig are also through to the last 16. However, the Saxons had to endure a nail-biting encounter against Bundesliga promotion contenders FC St. Pauli, but ultimately prevailed 4:2. The same applies to VfB Stuttgart, who defeated last year's finalists 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1 after a tough battle. Chris Führich scored the decisive goal in the 75th minute.
Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund had to go into extra time after a 0-0 draw in regulation time at VfL Wolfsburg. It looked like a penalty shoot-out for a long time, but Jonas Wind scored the lucky punch for Wolfsburg in the 117th minute. It was BVB's third defeat in a row following the 5-2 defeat at Real Madrid and the 2-1 loss in Augsburg.
KSC end Offenbach's cup fairytale
FC Augsburg, on the other hand, were able to record their next success after the win against Dortmund and knocked the reeling second division side FC Schalke 04 out of the competition with a 3:0 (1:0) win. It was Schalke's third defeat in their third competitive match under new coach Kees van Wonderen.
For the last remaining regional league team, Kickers Offenbach, the cup journey is over. The fourth-tier side from Hesse missed out on another surprise against second-division side Karlsruher SC, losing 2-0 (0-0). Offenbach had knocked Karlsruhe's league rivals 1. FC Magdeburg out of the competition in the first round.
Cologne knocks Kiel out
Two other second-division clubs have also already been eliminated from the round of 16. In front of a home crowd, 1. FC Köln knocked promoted first division side Holstein Kiel out of the competition with a surprisingly clear 3:0 (1:0), while SSV Jahn Regensburg beat SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:0 (0:0) in their first match since the dismissal of coach Joe Enochs, despite being short-handed for a long time.
Kiel's negative run thus continued in the cup. In the Bundesliga, the northern Germans are currently in a relegation spot with just two points. Cologne, on the other hand, were able to celebrate an important success for their beleaguered coach Gerhard Struber.
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