BVB to give Schott Mainz “the biggest game in the club’s history”

Schott Mainz facts

• Turn- und Sportverein Schott Mainz qualified for the DFB-Pokal as winners of the Landespokal Südwest. For many years, clubs such as 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, FK Pirmasens and Wormatia Worms shared the title among themselves. But Schott Mainz have been victorious in both of the last two seasons. Pirmasens were beaten 3-0 in the 2022 final, before Worms were overcome in a penalty shootout in 2023.
• “For us, it is an historic event. It is the game of the club’s history,” said TSV Managing Director Till Pleuger following the draw. “Borussia Dortmund are an absolute dream draw, it’s outstanding for the team, the club and for all football fans in Mainz too. We wanted exactly this kind of renowned opponent.”
• The two triumphs in the Landespokal saw Schott Mainz qualify for the DFB-Pokal for the first and second times in the club’s history. Their debut a year ago ended in a 3-0 first-round defeat to second-tier Hannover 96 at the Stadion am Bruchweg. Schott Mainz proved to be their own undoing in that game. Two of the three goals they conceded were own goals: Dominik Ahlbach and Julius Haas put the ball into their own net.
• The Rhenish Hesse outfit started the Regionalliga season on Tuesday. The opening game away to FSV Frankfurt was called off due to an unplayable pitch and rescheduled to take place in Dreieich three days later. Silas Schwarz seemed to have secured the victory by scoring his second goal in the 90th minute to make it 3-1 to Mainz, only for FSV to score three goals in stoppage time…

Borussia Dortmund facts

• BVB have won the DFB-Pokal five times. Only FC Bayern Munich (20) and Werder Bremen (six) have won more the cup more often.
• Borussia Dortmund have reached the final seven times in the last 16 years – since 2007/08 – most recently in 2021. The last first-round elimination came 18 years ago (2005/06) in Braunschweig (2-1) during Bert van Marwijk’s spell as coach. The last time BVB were knocked out by a fourth-tier team (like Schott Mainz) was 22 years ago – away to VfL Wolfsburg II in 2001/02 (1-0).
• BVB failed to find the net in a DFB-Pokal away tie for the first time in exactly 10 years (27 February 2013) when they lost 2-0 in Leipzig on 5 April 2023. That ended the second-longest scoring run in this competition ever. (br)