Ahead of the DFB Cup tie against FC Bayern this Wednesday (20:45 CET), 1. FC Magdeburg picked up a big confidence boost at the weekend, thrashing Karlsruher SC 6-1 at home to record the biggest win in Bundesliga 2 in the club’s history. “We got into a bit of a frenzy,” said FCM head coach Petrik Sander. “Some of our football was brilliant. It’s just nice when you get rewarded for all your effort.” The sensational display against KSC has left the fans dreaming. After the historic success at their own stadium, the supporters chanted “Auswärtssieg, Auswärtssieg” (“away win, away win”) with a view to Wednesday, when the biggest match of the year for their club is happening at the Allianz Arena.
“The fans are allowed to dream,” remarked Sander. “A lot of things have to come together. We’ll enjoy the game. A lot of our boys don’t know the aura of the Allianz Arena yet. They’ll certainly be in awe a bit because it is something of a different world,” summarised the FCM coach. His team go into the cup clash against FCB as rank outsiders. “Nevertheless, there’s still only 11 opponents on the pitch. We’ll see what we can throw at them. I’m looking forward to the game,” continued Sander.
The 65-year-old former striker took over Magdeburg after Matchday 8 last season with the team in bottom place, and guided them to safety. In the current campaign, following a poor start with a 6-1 reverse at home to Eintracht Braunschweig, FCM have impressed on the whole and now sit in fifth place with 16 points from nine matches, two points off the promotion places.
The front three of Emmanuel Iyoha and Mateusz Zukowski, who have scored 11 goals between them in Bundesliga 2 this season, as well as wing wizard Baris Atik, the joint-best provider in the second tier with five assists, is particularly packed with quality. In midfield, Bayern loanee Felipe Chávez pulls the strings alongside Luka Hyryläinen and Torben Müsel. In front of experienced goalkeeper and captain Dominik Reimann, Anselmo García MacNulty and Tobias Müller are the first-choice centre-back pairing, with Pierre Nadjombe and former FCB reserves player Alexander Nollenberger out wide.
With the momentum from the biggest Bundesliga 2 win in the club’s history, Magdeburg are hoping to pull off an upset on the big stage of the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night. They’ve beaten FCB in the second round of the DFB Cup once before: in the 2000/01 season, the then fourth-tier outfit knocked out the Munich men 4-2 on penalties. Bayern want to avoid a repeat of that at all costs and advance to the round of 16.
We spoke to Giovane Elber about that cup defeat in Magdeburg 26 years ago:
Elber on the 2000 cup defeat at Magdeburg and its consequences