Arminia Bielefeld unwavering in pursuit of league and DFB-Pokal double

A former club of ex-Bafana Bafana duo Delron Buckley and Sibusiso Zuma, Arminia suffered back-to-back relegations from the Bundesliga in 2022 and 2. Bundesliga in 2023, but will face champions Bayer Leverkusen for a cup final spot next Tuesday.

Also currently fourth on the 3. Bundesliga table, fighting for promotion back to the second division, captain Mael Corboz insists their quest for a maiden DFB-Pokal final will not come at the expense of their ambitions of moving up a tier.

"I don't prioritise [the league or the cup], so I think I'm going to give the typical answer – we want both! As [idealistic] as it sounds, we really do want both," said Corboz.

"And I think we had a good example of a team last year – FC Saarbrucken, who made it to the cup semi-finals and knocked out Bayern Munich [en route], and because of that kind of saw it through in the league, and in the end they were quite close to promotion.

"But it definitely showed us that it can take quite a bit of mental energy away from the league games, so seeing that last year kind of helps us to stay even more focussed.

"After our first three cup games, we actually didn't win a [league] game – I think we drew twice and lost 3-0 – and now after the Bremen game, we managed to flip the switch and stay focussed, stay on task and we finally won a [league] game after our cup run.

"So it just shows that it's not easy and, as I mentioned, I'm going to give the typical captain answer that we won't prioritise anything and that we want both promotion and a cup final."

The American-born midfielder also explained their fortunes in this season's cup, which has seen them already beat established Bundesliga sides like Union Berlin, SC Freiburg and Werder Bremen, which he credited to their strong mindset.

"I think we've seen our best performances in the cup because it's kind of a paradox – you have no pressure in the cup as a third division team," he added.

"You're playing against a Bundesliga team and if you lose 4-0, it's normal, but if you win then the city is lit on fire, so I think this relaxed mindset and laid-back attitude, never forgetting that we all started playing football to have fun, has been the quality of the group in the cup.

"And at times we've failed to do that in the league, and other times we've done it really well, so it's about finding the right mindset so that we can replicate those types of performances."

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