Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen meet in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on Wednesday at 20.45 Uhr, a game that sends German soccer’s most familiar recent rivalry back onto a knockout stage. Bayern arrive with a 35. Meistertitel already secured after a 4-2 win over Stuttgart, while Leverkusen come in sitting in sixth place and trying to steady a rough run.
Bayern carry a 17-match unbeaten streak and have won their last seven matches, but they have not lifted the DFB-Pokal since 2020 despite owning 20 Pokaltitel. Leverkusen, by contrast, have won the cup in 1993 and 2024 and know one more win would put them in the final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on 23 May. The winner of this semifinal will take the clearer route to a trophy that both clubs know well, but for different reasons.
The teams also bring recent history into the match. They drew 1-1 in Leverkusen on 14 March, Bayern beat Leverkusen 3-0 at home on 1 November 2025, and Bayern lost 0-1 to Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal round of 16 last season in Munich. That sequence has made every meeting feel heavier than a normal cup tie, and Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said, in effect, that the games have always been a total battle. He added that it is already the eighth meeting in two years between the sides, with different coaches on Leverkusen’s bench but the same players Bayern know well.
The tension for Bayern is clear enough: the record holders have not won this competition in five years, and Serge Gnabry is injured and will miss the match. Kompany said the point is not revenge, and that the team must take only what is in front of it, not what lies behind it, while also stressing that no one in his squad will underestimate this game. Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand said cup football can turn on one night, especially in front of a sold-out crowd, and described the semifinal as a super opportunity to reach the final. He said his team knows Bayern’s quality, but also believes Leverkusen have quality too when everything clicks.
The setting leaves little room for drift. Bayern are playing from the strength of titles and form, Leverkusen from the urgency of a season that has not gone smoothly enough and a cup run that still offers a direct path to Berlin. Stuttgart and Freiburg meet in the other semifinal on Thursday at 20.45 Uhr, but first the spotlight falls on Leverkusen Vs Bayern and a familiar pair of clubs with very different claims on the night.
