“The whole village is living for this match," declared BSV Rehden boss Predrag Uzelac, and no wonder: the community of 1,850 in Lower Saxony has been in uproar since mid-June, when the minnows landed a plum tie against treble winners Bayern in the draw for the DFB Cup first round. “We're playing the best team in the world, unbelievable," continued Uzelac, “we'll give it our best shot and play with passion, but there's no point entertaining big dreams."
There might have been a glimmer of a dream had Rehden been able to fully exploit their home advantage, but for a variety of reasons including security concerns, their Waldsportstätten ground is unsuitable for the game, which has been moved to the 16,667 capacity Osnatel Arena in Osnabruck. And unluckily for Rehden, their figurehead and former Werder Bremen pro Francis Banecki is sidelined with an Achilles injury.
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