Bayern Munich will be battling it out with Eintracht Frankfurt for a place in the DFB Cup final on Wednesday evening. It’s the 11th year in a row in which the men from Munich have appeared in the last four, an unparalleled run in the history of this great competition. Each one was a very special cup evening, from big scores to dramatic endings – fcbayern.com looks back on the record champions’ last 10 semi-finals.
24.03.2010: FC Schalke 04 0-1 FC Bayern a.e.t.
Bayern’s run began with a moment of individual brilliance. In the 2009/10 semi-final clash at Schalke, it was still 0-0 deep into extra time before Arjen Robben (then in his first season with FCB) summoned all his energy reserves in the 112th minute and embarked on a solo run that nobody expected. The Dutchman received the ball in his own half after a throw from goalkeeper Jörg Butt and drove forward down the touchline, leaving his opponents for dead. Shortly before getting to the byline, the winger cut inside into the penalty area and finished perfectly with his left foot. The wonder goal settled the match and Bayern went through to the final.
02.03.2011: FC Bayern 0-1 FC Schalke 04
One year later, there was a rematch and this time the Royal Blues got their revenge. Raúl put them in front at the Allianz Arena after a quarter of an hour. Bayern laid siege to the Schalke goal after that but the visitors’ packed defence stood firm – not least because a certain Manuel Neuer kept getting his fingers to the ball. Schalke held on and later won the cup.
21.03.2012: Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-0 FC Bayern (2-4 on pens)
A usually happy Brazilian became the tragic hero of the 2011/12 semi-finals. Ahead of his agreed move from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Bayern, Dante wanted to get to the final with his current side against his new employers. The contest at Borussia-Park was on a knife edge for a long time and eventually went to penalties after 120 minutes. The first five penalties were converted and then Dante, of all people, fired over. It proved decisive as Toni Kroos scored the next spot-kick before Dante’s teammate Havard Nordtveit then also missed, sending FCB through.
16.04.2013: FC Bayern 6-1 VfL Wolfsburg
During the treble-winning year of 2013, Wolfsburg felt the full force of Bayern’s hunger for success. The hosts went into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 35 minutes at the Allianz Arena thanks to goals from Mario Mandžukić and Robben, before Diego pulled a goal back for Wolfsburg just before the break. Bayern were having none of it, though, and Xherdan Shaqiri restored their two-goal advantage in the 50th minute before substitute Mario Gómez added to the scoreline with a perfect hat-trick within seven minutes late on.
16.04.2014: FC Bayern 5-1 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Record cup winners versus second division side: the 2013/14 semi-final followed the script as Bayern marched confidently into the final. Bastian Schweinsteiger (24’), Kroos (32’), Thomas Müller (59’), Mandžukić (81’) and substitute Mario Götze (90+1’) scored the goals for Bayern, with Simon Zoller (60’) on target for Kaiserslautern.
28.04.2015: FC Bayern 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (0-2 on pens)
It shouldn’t have ended this way. Bayern had the game well under control against arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund in the 2014/15 semi-finals, pinning the Black and Yellows into their own half for most of the 120 minutes. But Robert Lewandowski’s 29th-minute opener was not enough and was cancelled out by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (75’). It wasn’t to be Bayern’s night. In the subsequent penalty shootout, the ball just wouldn’t go in for the hosts. Xabi Alonso was the first to slip up, and then Philipp Lahm was struck by the same curse. Mario Götze was denied by BVB keeper Mitchell Langerak and incredibly, Manuel Neuer hit the crossbar as the fourth taker. Borussia, on the other hand, converted all three of their penalties and advanced to the final after a memorable shootout.
19.04.2016: FC Bayern 2-0 Werder Bremen
In the 2015/16 campaign, FCB booked their place in the final courtesy of a brace from Thomas Müller. The born and bred Bavarian put Bayern in front on the half-hour mark but despite controlling proceedings at the Allianz Arena, they couldn’t find the killer second goal. Suddenly Bremen went on the offensive but during a spell of Werder pressure, referee Tobias Stieler awarded a penalty at the other end when Arturo Vidal was upended in the box. The decision provoked much discussion but there was no video assistant at this point. Müller didn’t care and the 2014 World Cup winner tucked away the penalty to seal Bayern’s place in the final.
26.04.2017: FC Bayern 2-3 Borussia Dortmund
In late April 2017, FCB and BVB met in the cup once again. 11 months after Bayern had come out on top in the final of the competition, Borussia exacted revenge in the semis. Initially it looked like being another win for Bayern after Javi Martínez (28’) and Mats Hummels (41’) overturned Marco Reus’ opening goal for Dortmund. Despite some good opportunities, FCB failed to extend their lead in the second half and were punished by a quickfire double from Aubameyang (69’) and Ousmane Dembelé (74’).
17.04.2018: Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-6 FC Bayern
Bayern reached the final in 2018 thanks to a magnificent performance in Leverkusen and fulfilled departing coach Jupp Heynckes’ dream of one more trip to Berlin. His side produced wonderful football and took the lead after just three minutes through Lewandowski. The Pole struck again six minutes later before Sven Bender reduced the arrears for the Werkself (16’). After the break, a Müller hat-trick plus a goal from Thiago ensured a clear margin of victory, but the home side certainly played their part in a great cup tie and scored a consolation in the 72nd minute with a delightful free-kick from Leon Bailey.
24.04.2019: FC Bayern 3-2 Werder Bremen
Bayern and Bremen produced a riveting semi-final contest last year. Although Lewandowski (36’) and Müller (63’) had given FCB a two-goal lead, Werder didn’t give in and suddenly levelled in the space of a minute through Yuya Osako and Milot Rashica. During the frantic closing stages, there were chances at both ends but it was Lewandowski who sent Bayern through to another final with a penalty (80’).
Bayern progressed to the final in seven of their previous 10 semi-finals – more facts on Wednesday’s match can be read here:
