Entertainment guaranteed: Schalke vs Wolfsburg

A rare DFB Pokal meeting: Schalke and Wolfsburg, who have both lifted the trophy in Berlin in the last seven years, will meet for just the fourth time in competition history on Wednesday night. It could be a long night too, as all three previous encounters have needed more than 90 minutes to find a winner.

Schalke’s last triumph in this competition came in 2011, following a comprehensive 5-0 win over MSV Duisburg. The following five years saw the Royal Blues get as far as the last 16 befor last year’s run to the quarterfinals. The current season’s campaign has seen Domenico Tedesco’s men rarely tested, with a 2-0 win over BFC Dynamo, a 3-1 victory over Wehen Wiesbaden and a 1-0 success against Köln enough to earn a last eight place.

Now Schalke will want to make another huge step towards a sixth title, and after having missed the chance to go second in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a home defeat to Werder Bremen, they have the chance to make amends in the DFB-Pokal just four days later.

You don’t have to go that far back in time to reach Wolfsburg’s only Pokal win. The ‘Wolves’ lifted the gold trophy in 2015 after being Dortmund 3-1, and had already shown their might as a cup side by reaching the semi-finals in the two previous years. The last two seasons saw them knocked out by Bayern München in the second round and last 16, though they have good memories of their last meeting with Schalke – a 2008 success on penalties.

10 years later, Martin Schmidt’s team have a chance to reach the last four for the eighth time in their history, and the defence could be the key to success should Wolfsburg maintain their record of being the only team to reach the last eight this season without conceding a goal. It could come down to penalties again, as it did in December 1970, when the first meeting between the two sides ended 2-2 and the first ever penalty shootout in DFB-Pokal was played out. Schalke were the victors on that occasion, triumphing 3-1.

It’s a good draw for us, perhaps one of the best,“ said Martin Schmidt about the draw. “Schalke would expect to win. Away from home we have nothing to lose, and we go there as the underdogs. That suits us just fine.”