Rafinha set for Selecao recall

Tuesday brought great news for Bayern pro Rafinha: Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has named the Bayern right-back in the national squad for the friendly against South Africa at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on 5 March. This is the first call-up for Rafinha since his full international debut against England on 26 March 2008. FCB central defender Dante and former Bayern man Luiz Gustavo join Rafinha in the Brazil squad.

Semi-final draw on Wednesday night

FCB will not have to wait long to learn their fate if the Reds make it to the last four of the DFB Cup on Wednesday night. The draw for the semi-finals will be made straight after the conclusion of the last eight tie against Hamburg SV. Germany assistant coach Hansi Flick and triple Paralympic champion  Kirsten Bruhn will draw the two semi-finals. The four DFB Cup quarter finals are: HSV v FCB, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen v Kaiserslautern and 1899 Hoffenheim v VfL Wolfsburg.

Tenth cup tie against HSV

The DFB Cup record between Bayern and Hamburg SV clearly favours FCB ahead of Wednesday night’s quarter-final meeting in the Hanseatic city. The two teams have previously met nine times in Germany’s domestic cup competition - including a replay in 1975/76 - with FCB going through six times and HSV twice. The two sides last faced each other in December 2005 with Bayern winning 1-0 after extra time at home.

Home v away form

Hamburg SV can look back over a solid home record in the DFB Cup. The last time HSV lost at home in the cup was over eleven years ago when they went down 1-0 to VfL Bochum in December 2002. That was followed by seven wins and a draw (1-1 against Werder Bremen with an ensuing loss in the penalty shootout). In contrast, Bayern are unbeaten in 14 away games in the DFB Cup. The last defeat on the road for the Reds came in a 4-2 reverse away to Bayer Leverkusen in March 2009.

Zwayer in the middle

Felix Zwayer has been appointed to referee the DFB Cup quarter final between Hamburg and Bayern. The 34-year-old estate agent from Berlin is in charge of a cup tie involving FCB for the second time this season. Zwayer was the man in the middle for FCB’s 2-0 victory against FC Augsburg in the Round of 16. Zwayer will be assisted by Florian Steuer and Marcel Pelgrim with Bastian Dankert as the fourth official.