Twelve opponents
Referee Frank Willenborg had declared FC Augsburg‘s goal offside, but Schalke did not blame him after their 3-0 defeat. The secret twelfth man, who unfairly outnumbered the opponent, was instead located underground. It was apparently a mole who was working in the hosts’ jersey, because Augsburg’s 1-0 win thanks to striker Alexis Claude-Maurice was based on a mound of grass that abruptly changed the ball’s trajectory. There were further unfortunate circumstances (including an offside goal), so Schalke’s performance was not as embarrassing as the result suggested. It was still the third defeat under new coach Kees van Wonderen. To save the coaching effect, Schalke should re-dress a few Gelsenkirchen moles. Philipp Selldorf
Time travel
Do we actually know how the historic cup sensations (Eppingen against HSV! Vestenbergsgreuth against Bayern!) would have turned out if there had already been video evidence back then? Perhaps an Eppinger or Greuther would have been proven guilty of a push twenty-seven seconds before the goal was scored? We had to think about that during this second round of the cup, which, as we know, will be played without VAR and therefore seems like a journey back in time. With strange implications for the present: VfB Stuttgart would never have conceded a penalty with the help of VAR, Dortmund’s Nmecha might have seen red instead of yellow, perhaps Kiel and BVB would have received a penalty and Schalke would have conceded one less goal. Incidentally, people didn’t get upset about every scene later, which supports a secret referee thesis: sometimes there is less debate about referee errors as such than about errors that the television commentator notices. End of time travel. From the round of 16 onwards, the VAR will be watching again. Christof Kneer
Head of Cup Scoring
According to Jürgen Klopp, Yussuf Poulsen is an “absolute club legend” at RB Leipzig. Sounds strange coming from the great Kloppo? Well, the future “Head of Global Soccer” at Red Bull was talking about one of his future employees. In the podcast “Einfach mal Luppen” by the brothers Toni and Felix Kroos, he defended his new job against criticism from many fans. “It has to be said clearly that I have never followed the Red Bull story so critically,” said Klopp. From January 2025 he will also be responsible for RB Leipzig and Poulsen, who continued to work on his legendary status in the 4-2 win against St. Pauli. The 30-year-old scored two goals in his second start this season. With 14 goals, he is the most successful cup goalscorer in the club’s history. Or “Head of Cup Scoring”, as they might say in Leipzig. Sebastian Fischer
Ohne Heimbonus
SV Elversberg has a special place in Xabi Alonso’s history, because without them he would probably not have become Leverkusen coach at all. Because it was also a cup defeat at the SVE that led to the departure of his predecessor Gerardo Seoane in 2022. The fact that the new cup game is no longer worth mentioning is also due to the fact that the SVE is now in the second division. And as such, the Saarlanders no longer have guaranteed home rights, which the other Saarlanders from Saarbrücken successfully used for themselves last season with the help of their lawn. This led to a 3-0, which was decided after nine minutes by Patrik Schick’s 2-0. Now the stadium in Elversberg is not a stronghold of atmosphere and the grass there is excellent. But it would still have been a more attractive game. Martin Schneider
Goosebumps in the goal
“Schwäbe saves FC” – “Swabe best Cologne in cup sensation” – “FC out of crisis thanks to Schwäbe”. It is not known whether Marvin Schwäbe had dreamed of such headlines before the long-time Cologne goalkeeper returned from the reserves and helped defeat Holstein Kiel 3-0 in the Cup. Probably not. Schwäbe, 29, is an experienced professional and always in control. The homage from the fans moved him (“pure goosebumps”), but he didn’t stand out as a guarantee of a sensation against Kiel – the question rather arose as to whether a first division team was really visiting. However, Schwäbe’s routine appearance was enough to open a discussion in Cologne: Coach Gerhard Struber expressly left it open whether regular goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, 20, would now remain number one. Swabia can dream. Philipp Selldorf
