The Round of 16 matches in the DFB-Pokal will occur on Tuesday and Wednesday. Typically, four matches kick off at 6:00 PM, followed by two additional games at 8:45 PM on Wednesday. However, today, two matches, including the highly anticipated clash between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, will start later at 9:00 PM.
The change is due to the women’s national team playing the second leg of the Women’s Nations League final against Spain in Madrid at 6:30 PM. To avoid a schedule conflict in case the women’s match extends into extra time, the kickoff for the cup matches has been pushed back by 15 minutes, ensuring that both games can be broadcast live on free TV by ‘ARD’.
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This isn’t the first time Borussia Dortmund has encountered an unusual kickoff time this season; their match against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round was also scheduled later than usual, starting at 6:30 PM instead of the standard time. Again, this was due to a concurrent women’s national team match.
So, on this occasion: women first, followed by BVB, deliberately starting at 9:00 PM to allow adequate planning for the television broadcasts of both events.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
📸 INA FASSBENDER – AFP or licensors