By Dan Gaichas
Thirty-five years ago, FC Carl Zeiss Jena were in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final against Dinamo Tblisi. Nowadays, they are in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nordost. But last season in the DFB Pokal, they knocked off Hamburg SV in the first round. An estimated 19,000 will attend to see if Jena have another giant-killing in them against the current holders Bayern Munich. Jena currently have a 100% record from four matches in the Regionalliga Nordost.
FCB have had their share of being on the wrong end of giant-killings. The most recent came in 2000 when 3. Liga side FC Madgeburg knocked out Bayern on penalties. Bayern also hold the record for most-lopsided win in the Pokal—a 16-1 hiding of DJK Wallberg in 1997. FCB will have to begin their quest for a record 19th Cup without the services of Renato Sanches, Arjen Robben, Jerome Boateng, Douglas Costa, Holger Badstuber, Kingsley Coman, and now Thiago and Xabi Alonso.
Despite missing eight first-choice players, there is still plenty of quality to see out this First Round Cup tie. However, this is a Cup tie and to paraphrase BBC Racing commentating legend Murray Walker, “Anything can happen in a Cup tie, and it usually does.” For FCB, the hope is that it doesn’t happen on Friday. Kickoff is at 1:30pm Central time.
