Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund, and 2 Bundesliga outfit, Holstein Kiel, will meet in the semi-finals of the German DFB Pokal at the Signal-Iduna-Park for a place in the final against one of the other two semi-finalists, Werder Bremen or RB Leipzig.
Dortmund head into this cup-tie on the back of a three-match winning streak in the German top flight following wins against Werder Bremen 4-1, Union Berlin 2-0 and a 2-0 win away from home at Wolfsburg
The interception, the vision, the pass, the finish...football poetry 👌 pic.twitter.com/MiXg12a1bi— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 27, 2021
The interception, the vision, the pass, the finish...football poetry 👌 pic.twitter.com/MiXg12a1bi
That streak has lifted the hosts up into 5th place and contention for Europe next season.
They’ll now turn their attentions to the DFB Pokal where they’ve progressed through to the last four having recorded wins against MSV Duisburg 5-0 away, Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 away, a 3-2 extra-time win over Paderborn and a 1-0 victory over fellow Bundesliga counterparts, M’gladbach.
Dortmund have won 11 of their last 14 home ties in the German cup with 9 of these 14 ties also producing over 2.5 goals.
Holstein Kiel face a mountain to climb as they prepare for their trip to face Borussia Dortmund in their own backyard in this semi-final tie but the 2 Bundesliga outfit have absolutely nothing to lose and they disposed of the great Bayern Munich (albeit on penalties) back in the 2nd round.
Holstein Kiel started their DFB Pokal campaign with a resounding 7-1 win away from home at Rielasingen-Arlen.
That was followed by wins against Bayern Munich, Darmstadt (also on penalties) and a 3-0 win away at Rot-Weiss Essen in the last round.
Having scored a total of 10 goals in their previous two cup-ties away from home, Holstein Kiel may not be fazed by this upcoming trip to Dortmund as they’ve been hitting the back of the net on a regular basis and could cause Dortmund a few problems here.
In reality though, there is a huge gulf in quality between the Bundesliga and the 2 Bundesliga and whilst the visitors have nothing to lose.
They’re expected to walk away empty-handed in this semi-final tie as Dortmund look to turn the screw and progress through to the final.
Therefore, strong cases could be made for a Dortmund win and also over 2.5 goals here.