100% success rate at home!

1962/63 Werder Bremen
On 8 August 1963, Borussia Dortmund - recently crowned German Championship winners - reached their first ever DFB Cup semi-final. Coach Hermann Eppenhoff's side hosted SV Werder Bremen at the Rote Erde Stadium. Playing in front of a crowd of 30,000 in a match officiated by Berlin referee Werner Treichel, the Black & Yellows - led by inspirational playmaker Aki Schmidt - ran out 2-0 winners over a strong and aggressive Bremen side. Schmidt's incredible through ball in the 18th minute was ruthlessly put away by Timo Konietzka to give the Westphalians a 1-0 lead. Schmidt then topped off a spectacular individual performance with a goal in the 70th minute to double the hosts' advantage. Unusually for Schmidt, he scored the goal with his head.

1964/65 1. FC Nuremberg
Borussia were drawn at home to 1. FC Nuremberg for a semi-final tie on 17 April 1965. A crowd of 31,500 were treated to a thrilling match in the Rote Erde. The allocation of Hamburg referee Gerhard Schulenburg was met with distrust from the Black & Yellow fanbase: in the German Championship final on 24 June 1961, Schulenberg denied Borussia a clear goal as they lost 3-0 to Nuremberg in front of 82,000 fans in the Niedersachsenstadion in Hannover. However, there were no such complaints about the Hamburg referee's performance this time round.

Eppenhoff's BVB side got off to a great start and found themselves 2-0 up within seven minutes thanks to goals from Lothar Emmerich (2) and Timo Konietzka (7). However, the Franconians awoke from their slumber and fought back to draw themselves level with second-half goals from Greif (54) and Wild (65). However, in a highly-charged and compelling clash, Borussia managed to strike the knock-out blow with two goals in quick succession from Reinhold Wosab (72) and Konietzka (75) to secure a 4-2 win.

1988/89 VfB Stuttgart
Borussia Dortmund played host to VfB Stuttgart at a sold-out Westfalenstadion in the semi-final on 9 May 1989. The home team were once again able to depend on talisman Michael Zorc. The club captain, who had already scored important cup goals against Braunschweig and Schalke and had grabbed the winner in the quarter-final against Karlsruher SC via a 29th-minute penalty kick, once again proved decisive as he netted the opening goal in the 29th minute. Frank Mill extended the lead to 2-0 in the 59th minute to book BVB's ticket to Berlin. The Black & Yellow's performance turned Germany's most beautiful and atmospheric stadium into a ''temple of joy.''

2007/2008 Carl Zeiss Jena
Late on the evening of 18 March 2008, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK was rocked to its foundations. Diego Klimowicz, who had only just come on as a substitute, found the back of the net to give BVB a 2-0 lead and set the course for Berlin. When all was said and done, Borussia ran out 3-0 winners against second-tier Carl Zeiss Jena. However, going into the match, there were fears that the stratospheric sense of expectation might end up hampering the Black & Yellows. ''Final or fiasco,'' read the media reports prior to the match-up between the Bundesliga giants and the club facing down relegation from the second-tier. BVB had little to gain and an awful lot to lose. ''The team faced up to the massive pressure that was placed on them. They deserve praise for that,'' said Hans-Joachim Watzke. 

On too few occasions did the Black & Yellows look to attack down the wings to unlock space in the opposition's compact defence, especially given that the 13th-minute opener scored by Tinga came about in exactly this manner. It wasn't until the second half that BVB finally managed to assert their strengths on the game, mainly by attacking out wide. It was through this approach that the goals to make it 2-0 (Klimowicz) and 3-0 (Petric) were scored. Coach Thomas Doll showed his knack for a smart substitution: in the 69th minute, be brought the recently injured duo of Florian Kringe (muscle injury) and Diego Klimowicz (shoulder) into the fray - just 60 seconds later, the pair combined to book BVB's place in the final. After a smart pass from Dede, Kringe's shot on goal was denied by the Jena goalkeeper. However, Klimowicz was on hand to poke home the rebound. 

2013/14 VfL Wolfsburg
SIGNAL IDUNA PARK was at full capacity on 15 April 2014, as a crowd of 80,200 fans provided a setting and atmosphere worthy of a cup semi-final. They saw BVB take a quick lead through Henrikh Mkhitaryan (13), with Robert Lewandowski increasing the advantage to 2-0 just before the break (43). VfL's best effort in the first-half came in the 42nd minute, with Naldo being denied by the woodwork. The visitors struggled to fight their way back into the game in the second half; a Luis Gustavo shot against the upright (81) was all they could muster. The final whistle was met with a standing ovation from the stands. Even ten minutes after the end of the game, barely any fans had left their seats. (flü/br/cr)