The Eintracht players will be in familiar surroundings on Saturday 19 May when they take to the pitch in the German capital for their second successive DFB Cup final. Niko Kovac's charges have their sights set on winning the trophy for the fifth time in SGE's history, after losing 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in last year's cup decider. The task will not be any easier this year, but anything can happen in a cup final.
Rematch of the 2006 final
The Eagles also met Bayern in the 2006 cup showpiece – the club's most recent outing in the final before last year's appearance. Eintracht battled hard in that encounter but suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against a highly fancied Bayern side, with Claudio Pizarro netting the decisive goal. Eintracht created enough chances to force extra time but goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn showed incredible reflexes to deny Ioannis Amanatidis - despite not having a clear sight of the ball - before Alex Meier's effort on the rebound was blocked in a game in which there was ultimately no way through for SGE.
Good record in finals
Saturday's match will be Eintracht's eighth DFB Cup final, with the club's four triumphs in the competition bettered only by FC Schalke 04 (five titles), Werder Bremen (six) and this year's opponents Bayern (18). The Eagles' record is therefore a positive one with four victories in seven attempts, including the back-to-back victories in 1974 (vs. Hamburg) and 1975 (vs. MSV Duisburg). Aside from the most recent losses to Dortmund and Bayern, Eintracht's only other final defeat came in 1964 against TSV 1860 München - the Eagles’ first ever appearance in the final. Saturday's encounter will be the third final in an Eintracht shirt for Meier and Marco Russ, who are hoping it will be third time lucky after finishing on the losing side both times so far.
Match info:
Kick-off: Saturday 19 May 2018, 20:00 CEST, DFB Cup final
Venue: Olympiastadion, Berlin (74,475 capacity, sold out)
Referee / Assistants: Felix Zwayer (Berlin) / Thorsten Schiffner (Konstanz), Markus Häcker (Waren/Müritz).
Press conference LIVE
There will be a joint press conference ahead of the DFB Cup final, including the head coaches of both teams, Niko Kovac and Jupp Heynckes, as well as both captains, David Abraham and Thomas Müller on Friday at 13:00 CEST. Our English Twitter account will provide live coverage of the key quotes.
