VfL Wolfsburg have competed in the DFB Cup 114 times but this is the first time that they’ll face FC Carl Zeiss Jena. The facts and figures ahead of Niko Kovac’s competitive debut as Wolves coach:
- Jena reached the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981, where they lost 2-1 to Dinamo Tbilisi in Düsseldorf.
- Since 2020 Jena have been playing in the Regionalliga Nordost (fourth tier), where they were runners-up last season behind BFC Dynamo.
- As well as three quarter-final appearances, FCC once made it to the semis in the DFB Cup. In 2008, they went down 3-0 at Borussia Dortmund, whose squad included current VfL assistant coach Robert Kovac.
- His brother also has a bit of history against Jena. On 11 August 1995, Niko Kovac won 3-0 at the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld in a Bundesliga 2 match with Hertha BSC. The current VfL boss scored the second goal.
