The current DFB-Pokal campaign did not start until mid-September. Borussia Dortmund reached the final by beating Duisburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, Paderborn, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Holstein Kiel.

Round 1: MSV Duisburg

BVB breezed through the first round thanks to a comfortable 5-0 (3-0) victory away to MSV Duisburg. The Black & Yellows didn't take their foot off the gas for a moment and scored some very nicely worked goals. The Corona Protection Regulations in North Rhine-Westphalia permitted 300 fans to be there – and they witnessed a dominant display from BVB, who were 3-0 ahead at the break and a man up from the 38th minute. Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Thorgan Hazard all found the net in the opening half, before Axel Witsel made it 4-0 after the restart. Then Marco Reus made an appearance from the bench and made it 5-0 within seconds of coming on. Reus had been on the pitch for 35 seconds by the time he scored - probably the quickest goal by a substitute in the club's history. 

Round 2: Eintracht Braunschweig

BVB travelled to TSV Eintracht Braunschweig for the second round at the end of December and claimed a narrow but deserved 2-0 (1-0) win. Hummels fired his side into a 1-0 lead in the final match of 2020, but Borussia failed to extend that advantage for much of the second half. They were unlucky to see Bellingham's strike hit the post but also fortunate to see Braunschweig denied by the crossbar. Sancho then sealed progression in the second minute of stoppage time.

Round of 16: SC Paderborn

It was not until extra-time that BVB secured their victory over SC Paderborn in the Round of 16, which took place at the beginning of February. Borussia found themselves 2-0 up through Can and Sancho within a quarter of an hour, but had to endure a few hearts-in-mouths moments before a Justvan goal (79) and an Owusu penalty in stoppage time restored parity for the visitors and sent the tie to extra-time. Haaland then put the Black & Yellows back in front on the 95-minute mark – and they were through to the quarter-final!

Quarter-final: Borussia Mönchengladbach

The last-eight meeting with Borussia Mönchengladbach came at the start of March. In a tactical affair dominated by focused defending, Erling Haaland missed the chance to open the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark. He eventually did find the Gladbach net shortly after the restart but the goal was disallowed for a foul. Jadon Sancho then finally broke the deadlock for BVB around the hour-mark with his fourth cup goal of the season, but it was a nervy finish as Borussia were without the red-carded Mo Dahoud for the five minutes of stoppage time.

Semi-final: Holstein Kiel

The semi-final took place at the start of May, only 12 days before the final. BVB delivered a breath-taking first-half performance against Holstein Kiel and ultimately ran out clear 5-0 (5-0) winners. The game was all-but over early on as the Black & Yellows surged into a 4-0 lead in the space of 16 first-half minutes, with Gio Reyna (16, 23), Marco Reus (26) and Thorgan Hazard (32) all finishing clinically in front of goal. Jude Bellingham then added a fifth on the stroke of half-time (42). However, the victory was heavily overshadowed by the serious knee injury sustained by Mateu Morey, who will be out for a long time. "We said directly after the game that we now really want to win that cup – for Mateu," said captain Marco Reus after the final whistle. (br/cr)