page_title: 2018 DFB-Pokal Final
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 DFB-Pokal Final / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Jupp Heynckes
context_page_description: The 2018 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 2017–18 DFB-Pokal, the 75th season of the annual German football cup competition. The match was played on 19 May 2018 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
  The final featured Bayern Munich, the record winners of the competition, and Eintracht Frankfurt, the runners-up of the previous season, making it a rematch of the 2006 final. Eintracht Frankfurt won the match 3–1 to claim their fifth cup title.
  As winners, Frankfurt earned the right to host the 2018 edition of the DFL-Supercup at the start of the following season, facing the champions of the 2017–18 edition of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich. Frankfurt also earned automatic qualification for the group stage of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Europa League.
context_section_description: The match was the 22nd final for Bayern Munich, a competition record. Of the previous finals, Bayern had won on 18 occasions, also a competition record, and lost three times. Bayern's last final appearance was in 2016, where they won on penalties against Borussia Dortmund. Bayern were chasing a league and cup double, having won the 2017–18 Bundesliga in April 2018. Bayern had previously completed the double on 11 occasions (in 2013 as part of a treble), a record in Germany, most recently in 2016.
  The final was the fifth for Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes as a player and manager, having come out of retirement in October 2017 following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti. Heynckes won the final in 1973 as a player with Borussia Mönchengladbach, before losing his next two finals as a manager in 1984 (with Gladbach) and 2012 (with Bayern). Heynckes then won the 2013 final before retiring, securing the treble for Bayern, the first ever in German football. The final was the last match for Heynckes as a manager, with Frankfurt's Niko Kovač taking over Bayern for the 2018–19 season. Heynckes previously managed Frankfurt during the 1994–95 season, but is not remembered well at the club after being sacked nine months into his tenure following a poor campaign.
  The match was the 8th final for Eintracht Frankfurt, with a record of four wins and three losses prior. Frankfurt last won the competition in 1988, the last major title for the club at the time, winning 1–0 against VfL Bochum. This was the second time Frankfurt have managed to reach consecutive finals, having previously done so in 1975. In the previous final, Frankfurt lost 1–2 to Borussia Dortmund.
  The final was the second consecutive for Croatian manager Niko Kovač in his second full season with Frankfurt, previously accomplished by Dietrich Weise in 1975. Kovač took over as manager of Eintracht Frankfurt in March 2016, where he managed to keep Die Adler in the Bundesliga after winning the relegation play-offs against 1. FC Nürnberg. The match was the last for Kovač with Frankfurt, against his future employers Bayern Munich, where he took over as coach for the following season after signing a three-year contract. A win would also see Kovač become the fifth person to win the DFB-Pokal as a player and manager, having won the 2003 final as a player with Bayern, previously accomplished by Ludwig Janda (player in 1942 with 1860 Munich, manager in 1956 with Karlsruher SC), Alfred Schmidt (player in 1965 with Borussia Dortmund, manager in 1970 with Kickers Offenbach), Thomas Schaaf (player in 1991 and 1994, manager in 1999, 2004 and 2009, all with Werder Bremen) and Jupp Heynckes (player in 1973 with Borussia Mönchengladbach, manager in 2013 with Bayern Munich).
  The final was the 138th match between Bayern and Frankfurt, with a record of 68 Bayern wins, 39 Frankfurt wins, and 30 draws prior. Of the prior matches, four had been in the DFB-Pokal, with Bayern winning thrice and Frankfurt winning once. This included the 2006 final, where Bayern won 1–0 via a goal from Claudio Pizarro, making the match the 8th final pairing to be repeated (on 11 occasions). Their most recent cup meeting was in the round of 16 of the 2009–10 season, where Bayern won 4–0. The sides met twice during season prior to the final, with Bayern winning both by a score of 1–0 away in the first meeting on 9 December 2017 and 4–1 at home in the second meeting on 28 April 2018.
caption: Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes has won the DFB-Pokal twice as a player and coach
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