The second spherical of the DFB Pokal is over, by way of decrease leagues sides beating groups from leagues above them, Hertha Berlin and 1.FC Köln beat Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel however the greatest upset was Union Berlin who misplaced to three.Liga facet Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.

Each Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach had been knocked out after losses to Bundesliga opposition, whereas Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen all comfortably progressed.

So, listed here are three issues we discovered from the second spherical:

VAR is our good friend:

The fascinating factor concerning the DFB Pokal second spherical is there is no such thing as a VAR. For the anti-VARers, that is optimistic because it signifies that the selections made by the referee on the pitch are last, however typically the stand of refereeing is poor and VAR is required, this was the case within the second spherical.

There have been a number of calls that with VAR would have been overturned. On Tuesday, Felix Nmecha would have been despatched off towards Wolfsburg for his problem on Patrick Wimmer, Jamal Musiala’s second aim towards Mainz was a transparent offisde but it surely stood whereas the cherry on prime was Heidenheim’s late equaliser towards Hertha Berlin being dominated out for no clear cause.

So though a number of calls from VAR prior to now have been poor, the know-how was wanted in midweek and will have modified the course of the video games. 

It’s time for Gerardo Seoane to go:

Borussia Mönchengladbach misplaced 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt even with Die Adler taking place to 10 males early on. Gladbach even began the sport with Kevin Stöger, Florian Neuhaus and Franck Honorat behind striker Tim Kleindienst, but it surely leads to mainly nothing. Gladbach hardly ever troubled Kevin Trapp and regardless of all of the ball possession, which was apparent when they’re a person up, they by no means appeared harmful. The one cause Gladbach equalised was on account of a pot shot from Ko Itakura. 

This once more doesn’t do head coach Gerardo Seoane any favours when depsit being a person up you aren’t in a position to have a look at all harmful towards Frankfurt regardless of enjoying a number of of their key artistic gamers. It’s apparent that if Gladbach hold heading on this course they are going to be sleep strolling to relegation.

The DFB Pokal is missing in its drama and upsets:

The second spherical lacked any actual drama away from Bielefeld’s 2-0 upset towards Union Berlin. Each staff that was anticipated to win, gained aside from Heidenheim and Dortmund. Whereas essentially the most dramatic video games was Darsmtadt’s 3-2 win towards Dynamo Dresden which two late targets to take the sport to additional time. 

The bottom facet left within the competitors is Bielefeld however it’s arduous to consider that they may be capable of match the work of Saarbrucken final season. Whereas the dominance of Bayern Munich additionally offers little hope that they might be on the tip of a dramatic elimination like the previous few seasons. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan