The Berlin State Cup gets a new owner on Saturday. It would be the premiere for both TuS Makkabi and Sparta Lichtenberg Photo: picture alliance / Andreas Gora
By Matthew Koch
In the Berlin state cup final on Saturday (12.15 p.m./live in the ARD conference) in the Mommsenstadion, TuS Makkabi and Sparta Lichtenberg will face off against two outsiders and newcomers to the final. Cottbus plays against Luckenwalde in Brandenburg.
However, both teams have let favorites from the regional league look old. Oberliga club Makkabi threw out cup defender Viktoria 89 (3:2) in the semifinals. The already established Berlin champions and Oberliga promoted Sparta defeated Berliner AK (4:2) in the quarterfinals and BFC Dynamo (5:1) in the semifinals.
Now a final at eye level beckons. Sparta coach Dragan Kostic (42): “We know that Makkabi has a physically strong team. But in the final everything is open.”
And Makkabi coach Wolfgang Sandhowe (69) emphasizes: “We have a great squad. It’s a Jewish club with 16 nationalities.” 3,000 tickets have already been sold, and tickets can still be purchased online on the day of the match.
In the Brandenburg final, regional league champions Cottbus are the clear favorites at home against Luckenwalde on Saturday (12:15 p.m.). Over 6000 tickets are gone. For Cottbus it is the dress rehearsal before the relegation to the 3rd division against Unterhaching (7th and 11th June).