Borussia Dortmund Face TSV 1860 Munich in the DFB-Pokal First Round

The draw for the first round of the DFB-Pokal happened yesterday, and Borussia Dortmund will be heading to Munich to face the city’s biggest club, TSV 1860 Munich.

BVB will face the Munich side at the Grunwalder Stadion around the end of July or early August, which will be (I think) Dortmund’s third game of consequence in the 2022/23 season.

It’s not a bad draw for BVB. They get to play an interesting team, as 1860 have plenty of history, but they’re also in a tie that they will be overwhelming favorites to win. Despite being one of the founding members and champions of the Bundesliga in the 1960s and playing over 20 seasons in Germany’s top flight, 1860 Munich are far from powerhouses these days, as they’ve spent the majority of the 2000s and 2010s in the 2. Bundesliga before being relegated in 2017. They’ve now been in the 3. Liga for four years, finishing 4th last season.

Elsewhere, Munich’s second team will be heading to Cologne to face 3. Liga side Viktoria Cologne, while DFB-Pokal holders RB Leipzig are off to Hamburg to face Regionalliga Nord side FC Teutonia Ottensen. Perhaps the most interesting tie of the first round (if it isn’t BVB vs 1860 Munich) will be Kaiserslauten vs Freiburg, in a tie that sees the Pokal finalists, soon-to-be European competitors, being smaller than the 3. Liga side they are facing.