After the win against Leverkusen
©IMAGO
On Wednesday, Bayern Munich moved into the DFB Cup final against Bayer Leverkusen (2-0) for the first time since 2020. When Manuel Neuer is ready for action in Berlin on May 23rd, he can catch up with the previous record holders in terms of final participation. The former national goalkeeper is currently in seven finals and is therefore on a par with Philipp Lahm, Oliver Kahn, Claudio Pizarro and Mats Hummels. Two of his former teammates even made it to eight finals.
After eight finals, Thomas Müller and Franck Ribéry lifted the trophy into the Berlin sky six times, just as often as the current Bayern captain and former Schalke keeper as well as Lahm and Kahn. Hummels has the weakest record among the top cup players in terms of title quota, winning only three of his seven finals. BVB and Bayern icon Robert Lewandowski was successful four times in six final appearances, just like Oliver Reck and David Alaba. Pizarro won the pot five times.
Neuer can play in his 8th DFB Cup final on May 23rd
Despite the dry spell of five years without taking part in the final in Berlin, the Munich team have been in the final most often since the introduction of the DFB Cup in 1933/34: 25 times. They are followed by FC Schalke 04 (12) and 1. FC Köln (11). The top three record winners are made up differently. Bayern hold the top position (20), followed by Werder Bremen (6) and Borussia Dortmund (5). The record for the most wins in a row is held by a current second division team: Fortuna Düsseldorf won a total of 18 games in a row between August 1978 and January 1981, with Bayern and Cologne in second place (17).
Bayern will not be able to equal this record this year; a win in the final against VfB Stuttgart will mark another milestone for Neuer. Seven triumphs in the DFB Cup would mean a shared record with Bastian Schweinsteiger. He was in the squad without playing in the victories in 2003 and 2006 and was “only” on the field in the finals of 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (defeat against BVB) and 2013. Schweinsteiger was missing in 2014 due to injury.
