It goes without saying that Wednesday's semi-final will be an equally - if not more difficult - task than 12 months ago, when the Eagles memorably knocked out Borussia Mönchengladbach in their own backyard. With the score level at 1-1 after extra-time, Eintracht prevailed 7-6 in a dramatic penalty shootout, Branimir Hrgota scoring the winning penalty against his former club.
Haller's and Kovac's favourite competition
Sébastien Haller has played a key role in Eintracht's success in the competition this season, providing four goals and two assists in four ties. Only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski has scored more goals (five). Niko Kovac, meanwhile, has won nine of his ten DFB Cup matches as Frankfurt coach, the only defeat coming in the 2017 final against Borussia Dortmund. Kovac's record against Schalke also augurs well, with two wins and one draw in his previous meetings with the Royal Blues.
Reunions for Oczipka, Fährmann and Boateng
The Eagles will come up against two familiar faces in Gelsenkirchen. Bastian Oczipka joined Schalke last summer after five seasons at the Commerzbank-Arena. The left-back scored his only two Bundesliga goals while in Frankfurt, and picked up a further 23 assists in his 145 outings. Schalke skipper Ralf Fährmann is another former Eagle, having kept goal for Eintracht between 2009 and 2011. It's also a special match for Kevin-Prince Boateng: Schalke were the midfielder's most recent Bundesliga club (2013-2015) before he pitched up at Eintracht last summer. The 2013/14 campaign, during which he registered six goals and four assists for the Gelsenkirchen side, is Boateng's best season in Germany's top flight to date.
Match info
Kick-off: Wednesday 18 April 2018, 20:45 CEST, DFB Cup semi-finals 2017/18
Venue: Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
