Carolin Kebekus, a big Cologne supporter, was in control of the DFB-Pokal second round draw. Ironically, she managed to draw two big rivals, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach, against one another on Tuesday 24th October. It’s a tie that the whole of the West of Germany has been talking about for a weeks now, and has dominated the sports sections of the local newspapers. Straight after the tie was decided, a huge amount of ticket requests were made, and the game was sold out almost straight away. More than 50,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for this clash of two historic rivals.
Düsseldorf and Gladbach are one division apart in the league system, but that could change next season if the current standings in both leagues stay the same and Düsseldorf get promoted to the top flight. Fortuna, who won the cup consecutively in 1979 and 1980, are undefeated so far this season at home, and are currently top of the table. Gladbach (or the “Fohlenelf”), who won the cup themselves in 1960, 1973 and 1995, have been up and down so far. Their most recent 2-0 victory against struggling Werder Bremen, however, has thrusted them back up to the top end of the table. And so the question is raised - do we have the possibility for an upset here?
Three cup ties, three Fortuna wins
Statistically, it wouldn’t even be out of the ordinary. This will be the fourth lower-Rhein derby to date, and the three previous fixtures, all held in Düsseldorf, were all won by the home side. Their last meeting came on the 31st October 2012, when Fortuna came out on top 1-0 after extra time. Previous Gladbach player Nando Rafael got the winner against his former team. Some players who played in the fixture back then still remain in their respective squads; Adam Bodzek and Oliver Fink play for Düsseldorf, while Patrick Herrmann still represents Borussia. The two other fixtures before that took place in the seventies, and finished 3-2 (1976) and 3-1 (1971) in the favour of Düsseldorf. The second round of the cup has not been kind to Fortuna in the last two seasons, however, after losing 5-1 to Nuremberg in 2015 and 6-1 to Hannover in 2016.
One player to watch on Tuesday evening is the U21 international, Florian Neuhaus. The midfielder was signed to a contract by Borussia in the summer, although he has been loaned to Düsseldorf for the 2017/2018 season. He’s played very well in the early goings of this campaign. The 20-year-old will be looking to put in another good performance against his parent club, and to build upon the four goals he has already bagged in the league.