DFB Pokal 2011, Second Round: Bayern Munich Through With Huge 6-0 Win

For the second consecutive day, no German top flight sides lost matches to lower division clubs. The entire second round of the 2011 DFB-Pokal has gone off without a hitch for the Bundesliga first division sides, except for the ones who were unfortunate and drew other Bundesliga teams. The third round of the competition will now feature the best from both the first and second divisions, which is sure to create a lot of intriguing matchups. There’s some romance in small sides making deep cup runs, but it’s hard to complain about high quality football matches getting made.

There was a minor bit of intrigue surrounding this matchup in the USA, with Edson Buddle getting a start, but him and his team showed why they’re in the second division on Wednesday night. Heralded 19-year-old starlet Takishi Usami scored a goal off the bench, just one of six in an absolute rout.

Tuesday’s set of 2011 DFB-Pokal second round fixtures didn’t provide any surprises, though a couple of Bundesliga sides received serious scares. All of the big clubs in action took the competition seriously, playing their first team squads regardless of opposition. Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach all advanced past lesser opposition, though the latter two sides had to struggle.

Fortuna Dusseldorf are in good form in the 2.Bundesliga while 1860 are struggling, and that form was apparent on Tuesday. Though, the gap between the sides wasn’t supposed to be this large. 1860 defender Collin Benjamin had a shocker, putting in an own goal and getting sent off as Fortuna striker Sascha Rösler scored the other two goals.

This past Saturday, Sevilla made headlines all over the world for their shutout of Barcelona at the Camp Nou in a 0-0 draw. Unfortunately, the argument and fight between Cesc Fabregas and Frederic Kanoute has made considerably more headlines than the magnificent performance of Javi Varas, but the actual football was as stunning as the extracurricular activities. Lionel Messi missed a penalty, putting the ball right into the body of Varas to give him one of what seemed like two dozen saves.

Sunday got a little weirder. In England, Manchester City absolutely obliterated cross-town rivals Manchester United in a 6-1 thumping before Queens Park Rangers defeated nine-man Chelsea 1-0 in a match where Chelsea got better as players were sent off. Things continued to get crazy in La Liga, as Levante defeated Villarreal to go top of the league, ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Udinese continued their great form in Serie A, winning once again to stay top of the league; the Zebrette sold three of their four best players this summer and purchased cheap, unknown replacements. In Germany, Bayern Munich lost their first match since opening day, falling 2-1 to Hannover 96.