149 countries sign up for live feed
Saturday’s showdown will be screened live in no fewer than 149 countries around the globe, a 20 percent increase on last year’s total. Nineteen European TV stations, 41 in Central and South America, and an impressive 66 in the Middle East and Africa will broadcast the feed from the Berlin Olympic stadium. Countries as diverse as Algeria, the Falkland Islands, Jamaica, Togo, China, Tahiti and Cyprus will contribute to a viewing audience running into several millions.
196th Cup appointment
The final will be Bayern’s 196th DFB Cup tie in 49 shots at the trophy since 1935. Munich’s impressive record shows 142 victories, 20 draws and only 33 defeats, with 549 goals for and 207 against. The men in red have scored an average of 2.81 goals per game, winning 73.3 percent of their matches.
Aiming for 14th triumph
Bayern are aiming for a 14th Cup triumph on Saturday. Munich, the national record holders with 13 wins to date, first claimed the trophy in 1957 with a 1-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf, and most recently lifted the Cup two years ago after beating Eintracht Frankfurt by the same score. The Berlin showdown will be Bayern’s 16th appearance in the final, with only two defeats so far, a 2-1 loss to Bayer Uerdingen in 1985, and a 6-5 penalty defeat to Werder Bremen in 1999.
Three meetings with Dortmund
FCB have faced BVB in the Cup on three previous occasions, the Reds winning twice (2-0 in 1966 and 4-0 in 1981) and Borussia once (5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in 1992). Dortmund have made the final three times, winning twice (2-0 against Alemannia Aachen in 1965, and 4-1 against Bremen in 1989) but losing 3-0 to Hamburg in 1963.
Kahn out on his own
Of the current squad, Oliver Kahn has the most Cup appearances with 66, 56 for Bayern, followed by Zé Roberto (26/19 for Bayern), Lucio (25/18), Willy Sagnol (24/24), Miroslav Klose (24/5) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (21/21). The men with the most Cup outings exclusively for Bayern remain Sepp Maier and Gerd Müller on 63 each, followed by Franz Beckenbauer on 60.
Klose leads the way
The highest Cup goalscorers in the current FCB squad are Miroslav Klose (12/5 for Bayern) and Lukas Podolski (7/2). They are followed by Luca Toni (3/3), Jan Schlaudraff (3/0) and Lucio (3/0). However, Gerd “der Bomber” Müller easily tops the all-time ranking with an incredible 78 goals in 63 matches, followed by Roland Wohlfarth (18), Dieter Hoeneß (17), Rainer Ohlhauser (16), Karl-Heinz and Michael Rummenigge (both 15).
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