DFB-Pokal’s Final 8 is set, who’s here with Bayern Munich?

Is Bayern Munich ready to bring the DFB-Pokal back home?

This might be Bayern’s year after all. The Rekordmeister have never looked more confident in themselves, and they as a footballing side have never looked this formidable in a long time. Some might call them a force to reckon with, most Bayern fans just attribute the “Kompany Effect.”

After 2022/23, Bayern have for the first time in four years, cleared the round of 16, progressing to the quarter-final. This comes following a fantastic, well-fought game against Union Berlin where they won 3-2.

The other sides that have progressed include:

Bayer Leverkusen: Fighting against Borussia Dortmund, Die Werkself managed a first-half lead and held onto it with their lives. The game ended 1-0, and interestingly came right after they lost to Dortmund in the league.

FC St. Pauli: Despite having been defeated by Bayern earlier, Pauli applied the magic of the Pokal to hand Borussia Monchengladbach a resounding 2-1 defeat. Now that, is a superpower.

SC Freiburg: With a solid Bundesliga campaign brewing, Freiburg make themselves seen in the Pokal, beating 10-man SV Darmstadt 2-0. Vincenzo Grifo shows no signs of slowing down either… now that is a quietly scary side.

Hertha Berlin: The blue side of Berlin makes the cut. Now that is a statement hardly anyone could have expected, but it is the truth. Having settled in the 2. Bundesliga, Hertha have been doing okay for themselves and faced FC Kaiserslautern. A numbing 6-1 defeat keeps FCK out the Pokal, and most importantly, gives Hertha bragging rights — Union are out, and they stayed.

RB Leipzig: Second on the Bundesliga table, RB Leipzig continue their season with a respectable 3-1 win against FC Magdeburg with an in-form Antonio Nusa opening the scoring sheet for them.

VfB Stuttgart: Title holders VfB Stuttgart remain in the mix and their opponent of (not) choice was Bayern’s favourite, VfL Bochum. 10-man Bochum could only watch as Stuttgart, with a quiet 2-0 win progress further in the Pokal.

Holstein Kiel: Bayern’s public enemy #1 Holstein Kiel make the cut this year, doing FC St. Pauli fans a favor. They beat Hamburg SV on penalties (yes). Now many a Bayern fan know what Kiel and penalties look like. One can only pray to the DFB Gods that Bayern not face them.

The draw will happen this weekend, on Sunday. What do you think of the Pokal so far? Let us know!

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…