The best attack and the best defence of this cup campaign cross swords in the final on Saturday evening. FC Bayern have found the net 20 times, whereas Eintracht Frankfurt have kept four clean sheets in five matches. Attack wins you games, defence win you titles, says the old rule. But the cup has its own rules. fcbayern.com has compiled more significant facts and stats in the build-up to the match.
Record finalists FCB celebrated 11 times in Berlin
FC Bayern are record finalists, boasting 22 finals. No other team has gone through to the cup final more than 12 times (FC Schalke). If Bayern win they would seal their 19th cup title, of course another record. The Bavarians have won nine out of their last ten finals, only losing 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund in 2012. The record cup winners have contested 14 finals at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. The record is impressive: FCB have won 11 times, most recently on penalties against Borussia Dortmund in 2016, losing only three finals. Frankfurt will contest their fourth cup final in Berlin. They beat VfL Bochum 1-0 in 1988 and lost 2-1 to Dortmund in 2017 and 1-0 to Bayern in 2006.
Last Frankfurt victory a long time ago
Eintracht's last victory against Bayern was more than eight years ago. The men from Hesse won 2-1 at home on 20 March 2010. The Munich men have gone unbeaten in the 14 competitive matches since then, winning 11 and drawing three. The champions won both matches against Frankfurt this season, 1-0 in the first half and 4-1 at the Allianz Arena at the end of April. FCB have kept ten clean sheets in the last 12 encounters with Frankfurt.
New milestone for Heynckes
The final in Berlin will be Jupp Heynckes' last match in the Bayern dugout and his farewell from the footballing stage. But the final will be another milestone for the 73-year-old. Heynckes will oversee his 77th cup match as a coach, surpassing Udo Lattek, who passed away in 2015. Heynckes will be the coach with the second most DFB Cup matches, only Otto Rehhagel on 92 has more under his belt.
Goal guarantors Robben and Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben have been two of the most prolific players this cup campaign: the Pole tops the scorer rankings, netting five times and setting up one goal, where the Dutchman has scored two and set up four goals. Only Frankfurt's Sebastien Haller (four goals, two assists) boasts similar numbers. Robben and Lewandowski have scored three goals each in DFB Cup finals. If they score on Saturday they would equalise the record set by Uwe Seeler and Gerd Müller, who have netted four times in a cup final. Robben has scored in three different finals (2010, 2012 and 2014), which makes him the sole record-holder.
Zwayer in charge
Felix Zwayer will be the man with the whistle for the final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Saturday is a special day for him in two ways: the man from Berlin will oversee his first final and turns 37 on Saturday. Bayern have fond memories of matches refereed by Zwayer: he has overseen six cup matches involving the Reds, and Bayern advanced to the next round in each case, most recently in this season's victory over RB Leipzig. Thorsten Schiffner and Markus Häcker will be Zwayer's assistants, with Patrick Ittrich acting as fourth official. Bastian Dankert and René Rohde will be the video assistants.
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