Women

Ready for the Final

The VfL Women take on FC Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup final on Thursday afternoon.

Showdown in Cologne: On Thursday, 14 May (kick-off at 4pm CEST / live on Sky, ZDF, kika.de and Wölferadio), the women of VfL Wolfsburg will face defending champions FC Bayern Munich in the final of the DFB Cup as they battle for the coveted trophy. The match will be played at the RheinEnergieSTADION. It marks the 12th cup final appearance in the club’s history for the She-Wolves.

Between runners-up spot and title chance

With a 4-2 away win at SC Freiburg last weekend, the Green-and-Whites secured runners-up spot in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga ahead of schedule. Finishing second and qualifying for European competition has provided an additional boost of confidence heading into the final. The road to Cologne began at the end of September with a commanding 11-0 victory away to regional league side ATS Buntentor. A 3-1 win over SC Freiburg followed in the round of 16 before a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt at the AOK Stadion sealed progression to the next round.

The semi-final against FC Carl Zeiss Jena then provided high drama: after 120 goalless minutes, the tie was decided on penalties. Goalkeeper Stina Johannes emerged as the match winner with two saves before Smilla Vallotto converted the decisive spot-kick to make it 5-4. The VfL Women are therefore back in the final once again – and can look back on an impressive record: all 11 previous cup finals involving Wolfsburg have ended in victory. The last meeting with FC Bayern in a final also offers encouragement: during the 2-0 win, players including Vivien Endemann, Svenja Huth, Lena Lattwein, Alexandra Popp and Joelle Wedemeyer were part of the squad.

After the league title comes the final

FC Bayern Munich travel to Cologne as the reigning cup holders and newly crowned German champions. The Munich side have looked extremely convincing in this season’s cup competition so far: victories over Borussia Dortmund (2-0), FC Ingolstadt (3-0), Hamburger SV (3-0) and SGS Essen (4-0) secured their place in the final – without conceding a single goal. Bayern also made a statement in the league, sealing the championship with an away win at 1. FC Union Berlin. Another success followed last weekend: a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt rounded off the season, including the presentation of the Meisterschale. For the team coached by José Barcala, the final now offers the chance to complete the double after narrowly falling to FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

VfL-Spielerin Lineth Beerensteyn holt aus um einen Ball zu schießen im Spiel gegen Bayern München.

Special reunions

The final also features several personal connections between the two clubs. On the VfL side, former Bayern players Lineth Beerensteyn (2017 to 2022) and Nelly Smolarczyk (2021 to 2023) will face their old club. Meanwhile, Bayern’s squad includes several players with Wolfsburg connections: Lena Oberdorf (2020 to 2024), Pernille Harder (2017 to 2020) and Jovana Damnjanović (2013 to 2015) have all previously played for the She-Wolves.

The final live on TV and stream

The DFB Cup final will be broadcast live on free-to-air television on ZDF as well as on pay-TV channel Sky on Thursday. Fans can also watch the match via livestream on kika.de. The game will be commentated by ZDF commentator Gari Paubandt alongside co-commentator Cleo.

At the pre-match press conference, representatives and players from both teams looked ahead to the clash in Cologne.

VfL head coach Stephan Lerch highlighted both the challenge and his team’s ambition:

“We’ll need an almost perfect day. Bayern are one of the top teams in Europe, so we’ll have to perform at our very best throughout the entire match. It will be important that we stand our ground, work intensely and perform as a united team.”

Addressing the squad situation, the VfL coach added:

“If players are in the squad, then they are fit to play.” In doing so, he confirmed, among others, the availability of captain Alexandra Popp.

Svenja Huth looked ahead to the final with excitement:

“Finals are always something special. We know what’s coming, but we’re really looking forward to this match and will do everything we can to bring the cup back to Wolfsburg.”

Bayern head coach José Barcala is also eagerly anticipating the final:

“It’s going to be an exciting day, a full stadium, a huge game. These are exactly the moments you work for all season. We want to make the most of the stage and show our best performance.”

Linda Dallmann reflected on the significance of the match in the context of the season:

“Winning the cup would be the perfect way to round off a great season for us. Going out of the Champions League still hurts, but that’s exactly why our full focus is now on the final. We want to enjoy ourselves, play with courage and deliver our best performance.”