For Dortmund to Berlin: All the information about the final

23:30
The BVB players returned to Dortmund following the DFB-Pokal final. They will then head to Frankfurt at midday on Friday to begin preparations for the Bundesliga match away to FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday. The team will return to Dortmund again after the match in Mainz, but must immediately move into a hotel as a sealed-off group.

23:15
Click here to view our range of DFB-Pokal winner products.

23:00
BVB are the 2021 DFB-Pokal winners! Here we have the match report and trophy presentation plus the facts and reactions.

19:45
The starting XI for the DFB-Pokal final: Bürki, Sancho, Dahoud, Haaland, Reus, Guerreiro, Hummels, Akanji, Bellingham, Can, Piszczek
The substitutes: Drljaca, Delaney, Hazard, Schulz, Brandt, Reinier, Meunier, Reyna, Knauff

19:15
The fact that both finalists will be going head-to-head for the second time in six days – first in the league and now in the cup final – is anything but normal, but it's not an entirely new scenario for BVB: they faced Bayern Munich twice in seven days in 2008: in the league on 13 April (5-0 loss) and in the final on 19 April (2-1 defeat AET).

19:00
The referee for the final is Dr. Felix Brych. He will be assisted on the sidelines by Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp. Sascha Stegemann is the fourth official.

Günter Perl is the video assistant; he will be assisted by Markus Häcker.

18:50
Good omen: BVB have the same dressing room as they did for their 2017 cup win.

18:45

Dortmund's form
Rasenballsport Leipzig (H) 3-2
Holstein Kiel (H) 5-0
VfL Wolfsburg (A) 2-0
Union Berlin (H) 2-0
Werder Bremen (H) 4-1
Leipzig's form
Borussia Dortmund (A) 2-3
Werder Bremen (A) 3-1
TSG Hoffenheim (H) 0-0
1. FC Cologne (A) 1-2
VfB Stuttgart (H) 2-0

18:30
Targeting title number 5 today.

18:25
Borussia Dortmund have reached the cup final for the 10th time, drawing level with 1. FC Cologne and Werder Bremen. Only Schalke (12) and FC Bayern (24 times) have made it there more often.

18:20
This year was Borussia's 15th DFB-Pokal semi-final – though they have never won by as high a margin in the last four as they did against Holstein Kiel this time (5-0).

18:15
In lockstep: Both finalists had to go to extra-time once on their way to the final (BVB versus Paderborn, Leipzig in Bremen). Both kept a clean sheet in four of the previous five rounds. And both have reached the Berlin showpiece with almost the same amount of goals scored and conceded (Borussia have a 16-2 goal difference, Leipzig's is 15-1).

17:55
Got plans for tonight?
Gear yourself up for the final with our live show "For Dortmund to Berlin". Owo and Roman are once again your presenter duo: they welcome big-name guests on the show and are joined by Nobby from the stadium before kick-off. Available here from 19:09 CET.

17:00
Which Black & Yellows have stood out in the cup this season?

• Marco Reus has been involved in one goal in four of his five cup appearances this term (in total: two goals, two assists). Only against Paderborn did he fail to score or assist. But he did only play for four minutes and so had hardly any time to find the net or help a team-mate do so.
• Jadon Sancho has been involved in half of the 16 goals BVB have scored en route to the final, with four goals himself and four assists. No other player has registered eight goal involvements in the cup this term.
• Lukasz Piszczek is on the verge of making his sixth DFB-Pokal final appearance. No other player has managed that.

Click here for more cup facts.

16:15

The destination: Berlin has hosted every final since 1985. Up until 1984, the venue for the final was determined relatively late – once the two finalists had been confirmed. In most cases, a venue was chosen that meant both groups of fans would have as equidistant a journey as possible. The most frequently used stadia up until then were Hanover (eight times), Berlin (six times) and Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Frankfurt (five times each). Due to its "island status" within the former GDR, West Berlin was overlooked as a host city for the 1988 European Championships; instead, the capital was awarded the cup final.

15:45

What's at stake: The trophy presented to the DFB-Pokal winners is approximately 52 cm high, weighs 5.7 kg and has an eight-litre capacity. The cup is made of sterling silver that was fire-gilded with 250 grams of fine gold. The goblet is decorated with 12 tourmalines, 12 rock crystals and 18 nephrites. The centrepiece is the DFB emblem, made from green nephrite. Then Borussia Dortmund captain Alfred "Aki" Schmidt was the first player to hold it aloft when the "new DFB-Pokal" was presented for the first time on 22 May 1965 – by the former Germany President Heinrich Lübke. The Black & Yellows had beaten Alemannia Aachen 2-0.

14:00
Almost seven hours to go until kick-off. What should you do until then?

• Listen to the latest episode of the BVB podcast. It is already Nobby Dickel's eighth DFB-Pokal final with Borussia Dortmund: seven as stadium announcer, one as a player. We spoke with the "Hero of Berlin" about the finals of the past, plus the latest one against RB Leipzig, in our latest podcast episode.
• Watch "Inside Handball". BVB have already picked up a title this season: last Saturday, the women's handball team secured their first German title. BVB-TV was live at the scene and takes an exclusive look at this Black & Yellow masterpiece.

13:30
Meanwhile in Dortmund.

13:00
The Borussia Dortmund players took to the training ground in Berlin once again on Thursday morning. The Black & Yellows completed a light session ahead of their clash with Rasenballsport Leipzig this evening. Impressions from training.

11:30
The DFB-Pokal final will be shown live on Sky and ARD. The kick-off is at 20:45 CET. The BVB Net Radio will be broadcasting from 20:30 CET, and there will also be final coverage for the blind on the BVB website.

10:30
BVB beat Duisburg, Braunschweig, Paderborn, Mönchengladbach and Kiel to reach the final. Click here for a review of our cup campaign so far.

9:45
On the agenda for the team this morning is a light training session, as they gear up for the DFB-Pokal final at the Olympiastadion tonight.

09:09
Today is final day! BVB will be looking to end their 49th competitive game of the season by lifting a trophy. There will be more live updates from Berlin today.

Wednesday 12 May

19:30
Edin Terzic is feeling a "mixture of excitement and tension" ahead of the final against Rasenballsport Leipzig. "We have a great chance to win the cup for the fifth time."
"It would be great if we could bring the cup back to Dortmund for the fans," added Marco Reus. The 31-year-old is gearing up for his sixth major final with BVB. Further statements from the pre-final press conference can be found here.

18:45
Time for the final training session. Let's go!

18:30
Group photo with the cup

16:50
The team has landed in Berlin. There were 24 players on board the Team Airbus. Click here to see the squad for Berlin.

16:00
A golden future needs a past

15:00
Off we go to Berlin!

14:30
Dortmund, Germany's football capital

13:30
Emil Forsberg's goal in the dying seconds of extra-time against Werder Bremen fired Leipzig into the DFB-Pokal final. But it is one of his fellow forwards who is Leipzig's top scorer in the competition this season. Here are the facts on our cup opponents. 

13:00
Keep the early evening free! From 17:45 CET, we'll be bringing you the second "For Dortmund to Berlin" live show from SIGNAL IDUNA PARK with Patrick Owomoyela and Roman Weidenfeller. Nobby Dickel will be reporting from Berlin.

Also on the agenda is the press conference with Edin Terzic and Marco Reus (18:00 CET), which will be followed by the final training session at the Olympiastadion in Berlin (18:45 CET).

12:00
"We want to bring home the cup for the fans," declared Jadon Sancho, adding: "They've been waiting a long time for a trophy. And they've deserved it during these difficult corona times. They can't watch us play. The best way to end this season would be to qualify for the Champions League and to win the cup!"

11:00
BVB have won the DFB-Pokal four times. Our historical lookbacks:

1965: "In the end it's the titles that count!"
It took a long time for the DFB-Pokal to become what it is today. Things were different in the early days. Twelve years after its inception, the German Football Federation donated the competition a new trophy. That was back in 1965. And it was Borussia Dortmund's Alfred "Aki" Schmidt who became the first man to lift it.

1989: The start of a new era
Borussia Dortmund have won 15 major trophies throughout their history. Probably the most important of the lot was claimed on 24 June 1989 as a trophy drought stretching back over 20 years ended and the loyal supporters had reason to be proud once more. The cup win in 1989 would pave the way for considerable future success. 

2012: On days like these
Few DFB-Pokal finals have been as hotly anticipated as the one that took place in Berlin's Olympiastadion on 12 May 2012. It wasn't just half of Dortmund that made the journey to the capital - everyone connected with German football had their eyes on this one.

2017: A fourth consecutive trip to Berlin
Marcel Schmelzer became the fourth captain in club history to have the honour of lifting the DFB-Pokal trophy. The triumph was celebrated by 33,000 Black & Yellow fans under the floodlights of Berlin's Olympiastadion. Marco Reus sustained an injury, describing it as "a bit of the cruciate ligament".

10:45
Our previous finals:

• 14 August 1963: BVB 0-3 Hamburger SV
• 22 May 1965: BVB 2-0 Alemannia Aachen
• 24 June 1989: BVB 4-1 Werder Bremen
• 19 April 2008: BVB 1-2 Bayern Munich (AET)
• 12 May 2012: BVB 5-2 Bayern Munich
• 17 May 2014: BVB 0-2 Bayern Munich (AET)
• 30 May 2015: BVB 1-3 VfL Wolfsburg
• 21 May 2016: BVB 0-0 Bayern Munich (3-4 on penalties)
• 27 May 2017: BVB 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

10:40
Prior to 2021, Borussia Dortmund had reached the DFB-Pokal final nine times and even became the only club ever to reach four finals in a row from 2014 to 2017.

10:15 

Quick cup facts:

• First edition: 1935 (then called the Tschammer-Pokal)
• First winners: 1. FC Nuremberg (1935)
• Current title-holders: FC Bayern Munich
• Record champions: FC Bayern Munich (20 titles)
• Record appearance-maker: Mirko Votava (79 matches with Dortmund and Bremen)
• Record goalscorer: Gerd Müller (78 goals for Bayern Munich)

9:45

How is Mateu Morey? "I'm doing well given the circumstances," said the defender at the start of his chat with Patrick Owomoyela. Morey, who sustained a serious injury in the cup semi-final against Holstein Kiel, joined the programme "For Dortmund to Berlin!" on BVB-TV.

9:20
The 78th final of the DFB-Pokal officially kicked off a week ago with the so-called "cup handover". Hans-Joachim Watzke and Karl-Heinz Riedle represented BVB in Berlin.

09:09
After their arrival in Berlin, the team will first head to their hotel. The press conference with head coach Edin Terzic (LIVE on BVB-TV) will start at 18:00 CET, followed by the final training session on the Olympiastadion pitch at 18:45 CET (the first 15 minutes can also be viewed on BVB-TV).