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Following the conclusion of the Round-of-16 this week, the draw for the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals has been officially completed. Eight teams remain alive in the competition. Two top flight clubs who met in a lopsided match on the Bundesliga’s opening night are back on a collision course. The total bombshell of the night saw Bayern Munich paired with RB Leipzig. Bayern will host RB in February.
The two teams will obviously meet first in the league at the beginning of the Rück-runde in January at the Red Bull Arena. Bayern are desperately seeking to claim their first domestic cup since the 2019/20 campaign. Standing in their way are the club that claimed back-to-back cups in 2022 and 2023. The German Red Bulls also lost the 2019 Final to Bayern.
Two of the other top division sides who survived the last round – Bayer Leverkusen and St. Pauli – will also met at the BayArena. The two 2. Bundesliga outfits still in the hunt will be hosting matches. Holstein Kiel will welcome defending cup champions Stuttgart. Hertha BSC, having exacted revenge on 1. FC Kaiserslautern for their 2024 quarterfinal defeat, will welcome 2022 finalists SC Freiburg to the Olympiastadion.
As has been the case in years past, the quarterfinals will be spread over four matchdays. The search for the first two semifinalists will begin on February 3rd and 4th, 2026, before two more teams complete the field a week later, on February 10th and 11th, 2026.
The Full DFB Pokal draw:
Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig
Hertha BSC vs. SC Freiburg
Holstein Kiel vs. VfB Stuttgart
Bayer Leverkusen vs. FC St. Pauli
