DFB Cup facts: BVB unbeaten against RWE since 1972

The prelude: Borussia Dortmund has not gone out in the first main round of the DFB Cup for the past 20 years. The last time was on 22 August 2005, when Dortmund lost 1-2 to Eintracht Braunschweig after a floodlight failure. Since then, the Black&Yellows have made it to the Cup final seven times and won the title three times (2012, 2017 and 2021).

Lower leagues: Since 2001, BVB have only lost twice to clubs from the amateur ranks, and both were a long time ago. In October 2009, BVB lost 2-3 to third league team VfL Osnabrück in the round of sixteen, and the following year lost 2-4 on penalties also to a third league team, Offenbacher Kickers, in the second round.

A reunion: The last time the two teams met, in August 2008, the Jürgen Klopp era at BVB was just beginning. In the stadium on Hafenstraße, Tamas Hajnal, Florian Kringe and Nelson Valdez scored for BVB, while Stefan Lorenz scored for RWE, making the final score 3-1. Now, 17 years later, the teams are about to meet again.

Unbelievable record: Since 1963 the two teams have played against each other in eight Bundesliga games and two Cup games. Borussia Dortmund won seven of these ten games and the other three ended in a draw. Essen's last win to date against the Black&Yellows was in November 1972 in the regional league (3-2 in the Stadion Rote Erde).

Essen's long dry spell: RWE won the DFB Cup in 1953 and reached the final in 1994. In their last six Cup appearances, Essen have only made it past the first round once, in 2020/21 - but went on to reach the quarter-finals (against Holstein Kiel, who were then defeated in the semi-final in Dortmund).

Things looking up for Essen: Under coach Uwe Koschinat, who took over from Christoph Dabrowski after 17 match days, RWE has become a top team in the third league. In the first half of the 2024/25 season, Essen was 18th in the table, but in the second half of the season they ranked second behind Bielefeld. The team also won the Landespokal in a hotly-contested match against MSV Duisburg (2-1). To open the new season, Essen have drawn twice (1-1) against 1860 München and TSV Havelse.  (br)