Werkself face Bayern in semi-final showdown

Bayer 04 are just one step away from Berlin. But this will be a tough ask for coach Heiko herrlich and his merry men. The Werkself made it to the last four to play Bayern Munich after wins at Karlsruhe (3-0 after extra time), against Union Berlin (4-1), at Borussia Mönchengladbach(1-0) plus the spectacular 4-2 win after extra time at home to Werder Bremen. Schalke 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt  meet in the other semi-final.

Bayern head and shoulders above competitors

The Werkself have definitely not had the rub of the green in this draw being pitted against the biggest club left in the competition. The record champions and DFB Cup winners FC Bayern (18 Cups won to date) are in outstanding form since the return of Jupp Heynckes (at Leverkusen from 2009 to2011 in Leverkusen) and are now head and shoulders clear of the next team in the Bundesliga with an 18-point lead.  FC Bayern have weon an impressive 20 out of 21 matches with Heynckes at the helm, including  the first game of the second half of the season at the BayArena (a 3-1 defeat for Bayer 04) . At the weekend, Bayern beat Schalke 2-1 with boss in his sick bed. While FCB surprisingly went out of the Cup in last year's semi-final against the eventual winners  Borussia Dortmund, the team from Munich have not slipped up in this season's competition: Bayern progressed to the semi-finals with wins against Chemnitz(5-0), Leipzig (5-4 on penalties) , BVB (2-1) and most recently third division Paderborn (6-0)  where they face Bayer 04 .

Close quarter-final in 2015

At the same time, the Werkself do not have to hide from the opposition: In the Cup quarter-finals three years ago, Bayer 04 forced Bayern to penalties (0-0 after extra time) with FCB winning out in the end. And the Bundesliga restart at the beginning of the year was also full of excitement: Herrlich's men ran Bayern  all the way but ended up losing 3-1:3. Bayer 04 are currently fifth in the Bundesliga after the 2-0 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin.

Bayer 04 CEO Schade: "We want to get to Berlin"

A highly attractive home game for the Werkself in the Cup semi-finals. CEO Michael Schade was not the only to be pleased about the draw: "Against Bremen, our fans played a big part in us going through to the next round. In footballing terms, that is a very tough draw but there is great desire to make the final. We want to get back to Berlin after years away. I'm certain:  Everybody, who loves Bayer 04, will do all they can to make this dream come true. We went out on penalties to Bayern in 2015. Now, we want to beat them."

Herrlich: “Focus on the league first”

There are still two months to go before the semi-final Cup clash with Bayern and the Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich is continuing to concentrate on the league campaign: “Everything’s been said about Bayern and there’s nothing to add. Our focus is on the Bundesliga.”

The draw was led by Germany goalkeeping coach, Andreas Köpke. Some 20 Bayer 04 fans were at the draw held in the German Football Museum in Dortmund  accompanied by the Werkself record player and 1993 Cup winner, Rüdiger Vollborn.

DFB Cup semi-finals:

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Bayern Munich

Schalke 04 v Eintracht Frankfurt

Ties to be played on 17 and 18 April