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Royal Blues wary of attack-minded Lions

Felix Magath sees his side as favourites going into Wednesday's DFB Cup third round tie at TSV 1860 Munich (1900 CET, live on Sky Deutschland). But the Schalke boss still had words of warning ahead of the clash with the second division outfit, saying: "The last round was an impressive demonstration of how quickly the favourites can go out."

The current top two in the Bundesliga (Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg SV) crashed out of the competition at the hands of lower-league opposition, for example, as did Europa League participants Hertha BSC Berlin. Hertha lost 6-3 on penalties to Schalke's opponents in this round, 1860 Munich.

"These examples should show us all that getting knocked out away to an underdog is definitely a possibility", said Magath, without, however, dwelling on the subject. "If we go about our business with the same level of commitment as we did against HSV, we'll progress to the quarter-finals", said the Schalke boss, who is expecting an entertaining game at the Allianz Arena. "I can well imagine 1860 seeking refuge in attack as they bid to go through. They're most definitely a threat."

Assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn saw this at first hand a fortnight ago when he watched the Lions defeat MSV Duisburg 3-1. In the league the two-time DFB Cup winners (1942 and 1964) are still languishing in 14th place, however.

Yet Magath does not believe 1860's current position in the table is a true reflection of their ability. "They're a young team, but they still have quality despite having to let a number of key players go before the start of the season", he said. Among those to leave were European Under-21 champion Fabian Johnson (VfL Wolfsburg) and the 20-year-old Bender twins, Lars and Sven (Bayer 04 Leverkusen/Borussia Dortmund). In spite of their young age these three talented players were among the mainstays of the 1860 team last season.