Bayer 04 have drawn a club with a colourful history in Karlsruhe SC. The glory days of KSC were quite a long time ago. From 1986 Karlsruhe experience the most successful decade in the club's history under Winfried 'Winnie' Schäfer. After promotion in 1987 club established a foothold in the Bundesliga. Their outstanding youth development work saw the former Bayer 04 captain Jens Nowotny, Oliver Kahn and Mehmet Scholl break through to the KSC first team squad. KSC competed in the UEFA Cup in 1993.
The 7-0 runaway victory against Valencia in the second round is remembered to the current day and has entered the record books as the 'Miracle of Wildpark'. The run of wins for KSC was halted in the semi-finals by SV Austria Salzburg. Karlsruhe took part in the UEFA Cup another two times and in 1996 they reached the DFB Cup final where they lost 1-0 to Kaiserslautern. An eleventh-place finish in the top flight in 2008 was the last solid performance in the top division. The renowned Wildpark Stadium last hosted Bundesliga football in 2009.
DEMOTION TO THE THIRD DIVISION WITH THREE HEAD COACHES
Last season’s second division campaign turned into a disaster for Karlsruher. The first half of the season was disappointing with KSC fifteenth in the table on 14 points with sporting director Jens Todt and head coach Tomas Oral being released. The new sporting director and former KSC player Oliver Kreuzer engaged Mirko Slomka as the new coach but he too was unable to halt the dialogue. Following Slomka’s release on 4 April it was the U17 coach Marc-Patrick Meister at the helm. However, KSC were demoted by matchday 31. Meister is looking to rebuild the side in the third division . His contract has been extended to 2019.
GAMES TO BE PLAYED FROM 11- 14 AUGUST
The first round ties will be played from 11 to 14 August 2017 with the exact dates confirmed in the next few days. The cup clash at the Wild Park Stadium will be the first competitive game for the Werkself under new head coach Heiko Herrlich.
Borussia Dortmund are the current holders of the DFB Cup. Record cup winners Bayern Munich won the competition 18 times. Bayer 04 of one the DFB Cup once almost exactly 24 years ago: On 12 June 1993 Bayer 04 beat Hertha Berlin Amateurs 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin with a goal from Ulf Kirsten.
The DFB Cup is in its 75th year. The draw was made by former Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl in association with DFB president Reinhard Grindel.
DFB Cup 2017/2018 first round draw in full:
1860 Munich v FC Ingolstadt
Germania Halberstadtv SC Freiburg
MSV Duisburg v FC Nürnberg
VfL Osnabrück v Hamburg SV
Bonn SC v Hannover 96
FC Magdeburg v FC Augsburg
Chemnitzer FC v FC Bayern Munich
FC Hansa Rostock v Hertha BSC Berlin
FC Energie Cottbus v VfB Stuttgart
Sportfreunde Dorfmerkingen v RB Leipzig
Rot Weiß Erfurt v TSG Hoffenheim
SC Paderborn v FC St. Pauli
Lüneburger SK v FSV Mainz 05
Leher TS v FC Köln
Rot Weiß Essen v Borussia Mönchengladbach
Würzburger Kickers v SV Werder Bremen
FC Schweinfurt 05 v SV Sandhausen
SV Morlautern v Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth
FC Saarbrücken v FC Union Berlin
FC Nöttingen v- VfL Bochum
SSV Jahn Regensburg v SV Darmstadt 98
SV Wehen Wiesbaden v Erzgebirge Aue
Arminia Bielefeld v Fortuna Düsseldorf
FC Eintracht Norderstedt v VfL Wolfsburg
Spielvereinigung Unterhaching v FC Heidenheim
TuS 1895 Erndtebrück v Eintracht Frankfurt
TuS Koblenz v Dynamo Dresden
FC Rielasingen-Arlen v Borussia Dortmund
Karlsruher SC v Bayer 04
SV Eichede v FC Kaiserslautern
Holstein Kiel v Eintracht Braunschweig
BFC Dynamo v FC Schalke 04
Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Dutch top-flight club Fortuna Sittard in the third pre-season friendly. The match is on Friday, 1 August at the Fortuna Sittard stadium with the kick-off at 19:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to VfL Bochum in the second pre-season friendly. The match is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST. Read on for the latest information on ticket sales.
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