FV Illertissen vs. 1. FC Magdeburg: DFB-Pokal preview, team news & predicted lineups

The only fourth-tier team in the DFB-Pokal second round host 2. Bundesliga’s cellar-dwellers.

FV Illertissen will hope to beat a 2. Bundesliga side for the second time when they host Magdeburg on Wednesday evening.

FV Illertissen

Illertissen are competing in the Regionalliga Bayern section of the multi-tier fourth division. Holger Bachthaler’s side stunned Nürnberg in the first round of the cup with a penalty shootout win.

They are the only fourth-tier club in the second round of the cup. On Saturday, they extended their unbeaten run in their division to six games with a 4-3 victory over Bayern Munich II.

This is the first time they have reached this far in the DFB-Pokal. They won the Bavarian Cup at the end of last season, beating SpVgg Unterhaching in the final.

Team News

Center-back Maximilian Neuberger scored the goal in that final victory, and he’ll be expected to start on Wednesday. Yannick Glessing, who scored in the first round win against Nürnberg, has already reached double-digit goals in all competitions.

Magdeburg

Magdeburg improved their form since the return of club football after October’s international break. Following six successive defeats, they’ve now kept clean sheets in the draw with Darmstadt and a win over Preußen Münster.

The four points didn’t get them out of the bottom place, but they now tied Dynamo Dresden and VfL Bochum with seven points. They also ended a five-game goal drought in their hard-fought win on Sunday.

Magdeburg only managed to progress beyond the second round once in the DFB-Pokal in the last 25 years. It was a penalty shootout victory over Holstein Kiel that helped them to a quarter-final appearance in the 2023/24 season.

Team News

Tarek Chahed and Mateusz Zukowski are the only two Magdeburg players currently on the sidelines with injuries.

Predicted Lineups

Illertissen: Zok; Gölz, Zeller ©, Neuberger, Heckmann; Rühle, Hingerl; Cocic, Hausmann; Pfaumann; Glessing

Magdeburg: Reimann ©; Hyryläinen, Mathisen, Tob. Müller; Nollenberger, Michel, Ulrich, Musonda; Hercher, Breunig, Atik