Facts on the first cup meeting between Black & Yellow and Red & Black

Home at last: Borussia Dortmund have played only one of their previous 17 DFB-Pokal matches at their own stadium: on 1 November 2023 against Hoffenheim (a 1-0 win).

Fortress: Of the last 13 home games in the DFB-Pokal, only one was lost: in February 2019, on penalties against Werder Bremen.

Premiere: Borussia Dortmund are playing their 210th DFB-Pokal game, while Leverkusen are playing their 167th game in this competition. However, this is the first time these two top Bundesliga teams have met in this competition.

Successful coach: Niko Kovac has won the DFB-Pokal three times, twice as a coach (in 2018 with Frankfurt and in 2019 with Munich) and once as a player (in 2003 with Bayern). Only Kalli Feldkamp (Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern and Uerdingen) have won the cup with three different clubs. As a coach, Kovac has lost only three of his 28 DFB-Pokal games: with Frankfurt in the 2017 final against BVB and with Wolfsburg in 2022/23 and 2023/24, both in the round of 16 at Union and Mönchengladbach respectively.

High hurdles: Borussia are used to tough cup opponents. BVB lost in the quarter-finals in Leipzig in 2022/23, in the round of 16 in Stuttgart in 2023/24 and in the second round last season to a strong Wolfsburg side. This season, they travelled to Frankfurt in the second round (victory on penalties). Leverkusen also went into extra time in the previous round and defeated a SC Paderborn side fighting valiantly despite being a man down, winning 4-2 with two goals in extra time.

Minimum versus maximum: No other team in the round of 16 scored fewer goals than BVB (two). On the other hand, no other team in the round of 16 have netted more than Leverkusen (eight goals). Bayer had more than twice as many shots on goal as Borussia (49 to 24).