The second round of the DFB Pokal is over, in terms of lower leagues sides beating teams from leagues above them, Hertha Berlin and 1.FC Köln beat Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel but the biggest upset was Union Berlin who lost to 3.Liga side Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.
Both Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach were knocked out after losses to Bundesliga opposition, while Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen all comfortably progressed.
So, here are three things we learned from the second round:
VAR is our friend:
The interesting thing about the DFB Pokal second round is there is no VAR. For the anti-VARers, this is positive as it means that the decisions made by the referee on the pitch are final, but sometimes the stand of refereeing is poor and VAR is needed, this was the case in the second round.
There were several calls that with VAR would have been overturned. On Tuesday, Felix Nmecha would have been sent off against Wolfsburg for his challenge on Patrick Wimmer, Jamal Musiala’s second goal against Mainz was a clear offisde but it stood while the cherry on top was Heidenheim’s late equaliser against Hertha Berlin being ruled out for no clear reason.
So although several calls from VAR in the past have been poor, the technology was needed in midweek and could have changed the course of the games.
It is time for Gerardo Seoane to go:
Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt even with Die Adler going down to 10 men early on. Gladbach even started the game with Kevin Stöger, Florian Neuhaus and Franck Honorat behind striker Tim Kleindienst, but it results in basically nothing. Gladbach rarely troubled Kevin Trapp and despite all the ball possession, which was obvious when they are a man up, they never looked dangerous. The only reason Gladbach equalised was due to a pot shot from Ko Itakura.
This again does not do head coach Gerardo Seoane any favours when depsit being a man up you are not able to look at all dangerous against Frankfurt despite playing several of their key creative players. It is obvious that if Gladbach keep heading in this direction they will be sleep walking to relegation.
The DFB Pokal is lacking in its drama and upsets:
The second round lacked any real drama away from Bielefeld’s 2-0 upset against Union Berlin. Every team that was expected to win, won apart from Heidenheim and Dortmund. While the most dramatic games was Darsmtadt’s 3-2 win against Dynamo Dresden which two late goals to take the game to extra time.
The lowest side left in the competition is Bielefeld but it is hard to believe that they will be able to match the work of Saarbrucken last season. While the dominance of Bayern Munich also gives little hope that they could be on the end of a dramatic elimination like the previous couple of seasons.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
