13’ — Jonas Urbig sprints out of his box to head a Mainz through lob. Manuel Neuer would be proud of that.
11’ — Mainz go on the attack but the final ball was lacking and it goes out for a Bayern goal kick.
5’ — Konrad Laimer crosses for Nicolas Jackson but the ball is too high for the latter.
4’ — Raphaël Guerreiro tries a backheel but it’s a bit too high to go on target.
Kickoff! — The match has commenced!
Bayern Munich released its lineup for the Mainz 05 showdown and it features a heavy rotation (as expected) with the first start for Bara Sapoko Ndiaye:
Bayern Munich has reached the final of the DFB-Pokal for the first time in six years after seeing off Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in the semifinals. The Bavarians are pitted against VfB Stuttgart for a fourth time this season, with that match scheduled for May 23.
At the present, Bayern will travel to Mainz with basically nothing to play for. The Bundesliga has already been won last week after beating VfB Stuttgart 4-2, with the next big task being the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. That match is just around the corner, and the Bavarians need all of its best players fit. As the motif has been this season, Bayern isn’t just going to be handing out free points. Similarly, Bayern has rolled out its B-team a lot in the second half of the season and got favorable results.
Location: Mewa Arena, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Date: Saturday, 25 April 2026
Time: 3:30 PM Local time | 9:30 AM EST | 6:30 AM PST
Bayern wins 3-1 with goals from Nicolas Jackson, Michael Olise, and Harry Kane.
While waiting for the match, do consider listening to the latest episode of Bavarian Podcast Works (more on that below) or you may read the selected reads below: