Bayer 04 away to Alemannia Aachen in the DFB Cup

When Nia Künzer pulled out the 24th of a total of 64 balls it was the Werkself and that means Peter Bosz and his players face former Bundesliga side Alemannia Aachen in the first competitive match of the new season. "A good, very attractive cup draw – also for our fans. Alemannia Aachen have a long tradition, a great history and a fantastic stadium. We can all look forward to the game," said sporting managing director Rudi Völler. The first round proper of the DFB Cup will be played between 9 and 12 August.

Aachen finished last season sixth in the Regional League West and the team coached by Fuat Kilic qualified for the DFB Cup by lifting the Middle Rhine Cup with a 3-1 win against Fortuna Köln. It will be the second time Bayer 04 will play the team relegated from the Bundesliga in 2007 in the DFB Cup. On 31 October 2000 the tie against the then second division team saw the Werkself run out winners at the old Tivoli Stadium with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Carsten Ramelow and Thomas Brdaric to secure progress to the Round of 16.

"Almost like a derby"

For Simon Rolfes and Kai Havertz, the cup tie in Aachen is also a return to their former stomping ground. "If anybody had asked me if I'd like to play against my old club at the Tivoli in Aachen then I would have said yes straight away. It will be a great setting for a cup tie. I'm sure that a lot of our fans will travel to Aachen and it's almost like a derby," said Rolfes pleased with the opposition in the cup. The Bayer 04 sporting director moved from Bremen to Aachen as a player in the summer of 2004 before signing for the Werkself a year later. Kai Havertz was a youth player at Alemannia before moving on to the Bayer 04 U17 team in 2017. "It's a great draw. It's cool to be playing in my hometown. Earlier on I was a big Alemannia fan. Albeit at the old Tivoli ground back then. But it will be special for me to play there. I'm looking forward to it," said the Werkself number 29 who starts the pre-season with his team-mates on 1 July.  

The German Football Association (DFB) will confirm match details for the first round ten to twelve days after the draw. Ticket information will be announced shortly.

DFB Cup First Round draw:

Würzburger Kickers (Division 3) v TSG Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
FSV Salmrohr (Division 5) v Holstein Kiel (Division 2)
VfB Germania Halberstadt (Regional League) v Union Berlin (Bundesliga)
FC Kaiserslautern (Division 3) v FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League) v SC Paderborn (Bundesliga)
Hallescher FC (Division 3) v VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
SV Atlas Delmenhorst (Division 4) v Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
KFC Uerdingen 05 (Division 3) v Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
SV Sandhausen (Division 2 v Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
Chemnitzer FC (Division 3) v Hamburg SV (Division 2)
Waldhof Mannheim (Division 3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
Alemannia Aachen (Regional League) v Bayer 04
TuS Dassendorf (Division 4) v Dynamo Dresden (Division 2)
FC 08 Villingen (Division 4) v Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
KSV Baunatal (Division 4) v VfL Bochum (Division 2)
Energie Cottbus (Regional League) v Bayern Munich (Bundesliga, Titelverteidiger)
Karlsruher SC (Division 2) v Hannover 96 (Division 2)
MSV Duisburg (Division 3) v SpVgg Greuther Fürth (Division 2)
FC Oberneuland (Division 4) v SV Darmstadt (Division 2)
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Division 2) v FC Köln (Bundesliga)
FC Hansa Rostock (Division 3) v VfB Stuttgart (Division 2)
FC Saarbrücken (Regional League) v Jahn Regensburg (Division 2)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League) v FC Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin (Regional League) v Arminia Bielefeld (Division 2)
FC Ingolstadt (Division 3) v FC Nürnberg (Division 2)
SC Verl (Regional League) v FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
VfB Lübeck (Regional League) v FC St. Pauli (Division 2)
VfB Eichstätt (Regional League) v Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
FSV Wacker Nordhausen (Regional League) v Erzgebirge Aue (Division 2)
VfL Osnabrück (Division 2) v RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
FC Magdeburg (Division 3) v SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
SSV Ulm 1846 (Regional League) v FC Heidenheim (Division 2)

Key dates for DFB Cup 2019/20:

Second Round: 29/30 October 2019
Round of 16: 4/5 February 2020
Quarter-finals: 3/4 March 2020
Semi-finals: 21/22 April 2020
Final: 23 May 2020 in Berlin