On Saturday, FC Bayern could win the DFB Cup again for the first time in six years. The past few years have been marked by historic defeats and close final decisions. An overview.
Anyone who has followed FC Bayern’s season will find it hard to imagine that this club has not been able to win the DFB Cup once in the past six years. At the national level, the Munich team were out of competition last season, The team won the championship title by a full 18 points and also broke the goal record.
On Saturday, coach Vincent Kompany’s team deserves to be in the DFB Cup final against VfB Stuttgart. However, this cannot be taken for granted given the past few years. Hence the joy of the Munich fans – after the semi-final victory, they started cheerful chants: “Berlin. Berlin. We’re going to Berlin!”
Dry spell with historical DFB Cup defeat
The last triumph was at least a while ago. In 2019/20 – in the triple season – the Munich team won the trophy after a win against Bayer Leverkusen. The dry spell that followed is actually not worthy of FCB at all. The six-year chronology doesn’t look like Bayern at all.
In the video: Kimmich’s “tip” against Kompany causes laughter
2021: the defeat on penalties against the then second division club Holstein Kiel in the second round of the cup. 2022: a bitter quarter-final embarrassment against Borussia Mönchengladbach. With a score of 0:5, the Munich team were literally knocked out of the tournament. 2023: It was over in the quarterfinals against SC Freiburg. 2024: the cup low point. FCB fails against third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken. A bitter last minute defeat. Never before in the club’s history had the German record champions lost to a third division team in the DFB Cup. 2025: It shouldn’t work again: Munich fails in the quarter-finals against Bayer Leverkusen – and that already in the round of 16.
25 cup finals, 20 wins
The difficult relationship with the DFB Cup is older than the unsuccessful past six years. 2000/2001: Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld couldn’t believe his eyes when his team lost on penalties to fourth-class (1) 1. FC Magdeburg. After the second round exit, the mood was initially down – but the players were consoled by the fantastic Champions League victory against FC Valencia. And in 1990/1991 and 1994/1995 the Munich team was eliminated in the first round.
However, a look at the other side of the coin also shows the many successes in the tournament: In total, the Munich team reached the final 25 times and won 20 times – more often than any other club. With the momentum of the past few weeks, with the self-confidence after a historic Bundesliga season and the confident performances in the Champions League, this success record could increase on Saturday. FCB won the last meeting with final opponent and defending champion VfB Stuttgart 4-2.
In the video: Vincent Kompany exclusively on Manuel Neuer’s World Cup nomination
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Source: BR24Sport
May 22, 2026 – 8:54 a.m
