German Cup second round

The Bundesliga's top teams take on the country's minnows on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, as the second round of the German Cup kicks off across Germany. Of the 16 teams involved on Tuesday, it's fair to say that most eyes will be on Dortmund, in their match against St. Pauli in Hamburg.

BVB, in recent seasons the only team to have kept pace with Bayern Munich domestically, are currently loitering in 15th position in the Bundesliga. The team, which last won the German Cup in 2012, is desperately looking to turn their form around on Tuesday.

"We want to use every opportunity we have at the moment to get some success," said coach Jürgen Klopp on Monday. "No matter how St. Pauli play, it's a hurdle that we have to get over. We are going to fight to get to the next round."

"It's obvious that people are talking about us at the moment," Klopp admitted. "I'm not angry about anyone that criticizes us, I just can't worry about it at the moment."

A win on Tuesday is also important for the team's confidence levels too of course: Dortmund will have to journey to Bayern Munich on Saturday in the Bundesliga, and would dearly like a bit of good cheer before they head south.

Bayern's tiny test

On Wednesday night, Bayern will also be in Hamburg, playing against Bundesliga side, HSV. The current German champions and German Cup holders, who only managed a draw against Gladbach on the weekend, go into the game as massive favorites. It would be a minor miracle for Hamburg's team to get a win against the Bavarians, especially considering their ongoing poor form this season.

Bayern dominated their first Cup match of the season, back in August, smashing Preussen Münster 4-1. In contrast, Hamburg's first round game in the Cup against Cottbus was a real nailbiter, which they eventually won on penalties.

Since then, Hamburg looks to have stabilized a little under the leadership of new coach Joe Zinnbauer. Zinnbauer has now been given an extension to his contract in Hamburg taking him through to 2016. A win in the Cup on Wednesday night would make him an overnight hero in the northern German city, which has had little to cheer about - football-wise - for some time now.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Eintracht Frankfurt will host Borussia Mönchengladbach in the other top-flight match-up. Frankfurt are still recovering from a frenetic Bundesliga game on the weekend, which they eventually lost 5-4 to Stuttgart.

Meanwhile, Gladbach are full of confidence, as they begin to earn the praise of footballing Germany. After their hard-fought draw on the weekend, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm was generous in his praise for his opponents, when speaking to news agency SID after the game.

"I don't expect them to drop too many places this season," Lahm said. "They have a great mix of players and a very good coach who shows them how they have to defend. Up front they have dangerous players. They are a strong team."

The other matches in overview

In total some 32 teams will be in action mid-week this week in the German cup. Match pairings are listed below:

Tuesday night - Arminia Bielefeld vs. Hertha Berlin, Chemnitz vs. Werder Bremen, Kickers Offenbach vs. Karlsruhe, Aalen vs. Hannover, Dynamo Dresden vs. Bochum, St. Pauli vs. Dortmund, Duisburg vs. Cologne, Kaiserslautern vs. Greuther Fürth

Wednesday night - Würzburg vs. Braunschweig, Magdeburg vs. Bayer Leverkusen, 1860 Munich vs. Freiburg, Leipzig vs. Erzgebirge Aue, Hamburg vs. Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim vs. FSV Frankfurt, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wolfsburg vs. Heidenheim

Visit www.dw.de/sports from 18:00 UTC on Tuesday and Wednesday for our live blog of German Cup action from across the country.