Werder Bremen lifted the DFB-Pokal and booked their place in the Europa League next season thanks to a narrow win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Mesut Ozil's deflected strike in the 58th minute was enough to win the game for a dominant Bremen side at Berlin's Olympiastadion.
Bremen had enough chances to win the game several times over against a lifeless Leverkusen, whose coach Bruno Labbadia goes into showdown talks with his club's board next week having failed to deliver the expected success this season.
Diego, playing his last game for Bremen before moving to Juventus next season, was given a very warm reception from the fans from northern Germany, who made up the majority inside the sold-out Olympiastadion.
He bowed to them having vowed to leave on a high note by winning the DFB-Pokal.
The early indications were promising for Bremen as Sebastian Prodl brought a decent save out of Rene Adler.
Torsten Frings' shot was then blocked by Manuel Friedrich when Claudio Pizarro unselfishly played the ball back to the Germany midfielder when perhaps he could have shot himself from inside the area.
Patrick Helmes had Leverkusen's best chance of the whole game in the 22nd minute when the ball fell at his feet just eight yards out from goal, but he completely mis-kicked with just Tim Wiese to beat.
All of the action was concentrated in front of Adler's goal and he was clearly feeling the pressure as he fumbled Naldo's 30-yard free-kick into the path of Frings, but Diego stole in from the side to take the shooting opportunity away from his team-mate.
Bremen may have wondered how they went into the break without scoring as Naldo's header was tipped over the bar by Adler on the stroke of half-time.
But Thomas Schaaf's men got the goal they were looking for, and thoroughly deserved, when Ozil's angled shot took a slight deflection off Friedrich to beat Adler at his near post in the 58th minute.
That goal proved to be enough to win the cup for Bremen.
Stefan Kiessling had the one and only chance to take the game to extra-time when he beat the offside trap in the 79th minute, but Prodl recovered to clear.
[Soccernet]
Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen head into the DFB-Pokal final today looking to salvage some pride from their otherwise disappointing seasons.
Both have failed to live up to their own expectations in the Bundesliga this season, finishing ninth and 10th respectively, and this has increased the pressure on their coaches.
Indeed, leading Leverkusen to DFB-Pokal glory may be the only thing which can keep Bruno Labbadia in his job.
After missing out on a place in Europe following a disappointing league campaign, Labbadia's future appears now to be hinging on whether or not his side can get the better of Bremen in Berlin.
But reading between the lines of Leverkusen's director of sport Rudi Voller's pre-match comments, defeat would not be so dramatic after he gave Labbadia his indirect backing by praising opponents Bremen for the patience they have shown with their coach Thomas Schaaf.
"Werder have been showing in an exemplary fashion for years how you deal with such crises," Voller said.
"Whenever there has been public criticism of Thomas Schaaf, then there has been 100% backing for the coach from the board.
"We are still convinced of Bruno's potential and we value the way in which Labbadia lets football be played."
Yet Leverkusen have veered from the sublime to the ridiculous this season, culminating in a 3-0 defeat on the final day of the season to struggling Energie Cottbus which has made the cup final even more important
Saturday's game may be the explanation for that slip-up last weekend since Labbadia says his players have been focused on this clash for months.
"The team is very excited," he said. "Everybody is looking forward to it.
"We have been working towards getting to Berlin from day one and spoke about how great an experience it would be even in (the first round at) Oberhausen.
"We are now here in Berlin and are incredibly excited."
Leverkusen got the better of Bremen in the Bundesliga with a win and a draw in their two meetings, but Schaaf hopes it will be a case of third time lucky for his side.
"It is going to be a tough task and I hope that we can do better this time than we did in the league," he said.
Brazilian playmaker Diego will be playing his final game for the club before moving to Juventus in the summer and he has promised to do all he can to leave with a piece of silverware.
"This is going to be the biggest game in my life so far," he said. "Winning the DFB-Pokal is my biggest dream."
Torsten Frings took a knock to his thigh in Thursday's training session, but he should be fit to play, leaving Schaaf without only his two long-term injury absentees, Per Mertesacker and Daniel Jensen.
Labbadia has a fully-fit squad to choose from.
When Werder Bremen take on Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final on Saturday (1800 GMT), it will be their last chance to salvage a European spot from an otherwise hapless season.
The pre-season Bundesliga favourites, who ended up in 10th place after showing only occasional sparks of their brilliance, also missed out on European glory, losing in the UEFA Cup final to Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk last week.
With playmaker Diego joining Juventus at the end of the season, Werder are asking the Brazilian to put in one final breath-taking performance to win the cup.
Mercurial Diego has been sparkling when it really mattered, at time almost single-handedly guiding them further in their competitions.
His suspension from the UEFA Cup final was crucial, leaving Werder with no creative play in midfield and no trophy.
"This (German Cup) match is the most important one, not only during my time at Werder but the most important one of my life," Diego said.
"I am happy to be able to give something back to Werder for all their devotion. I am fully motivated for this."
Coach Thomas Schaaf, rumoured to be on his way out at the end of the season after 10 years, will have captain Frank Baumann and Sebastian Boenisch back in the squad as he bids to bring back the cup after Werder's last triumph in 2004.
BAYER COLLAPSE
Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia had also imagined his season differently after sitting in fifth place halfway through. But his young team's second round collapse, including eight defeats, saw them crash out of the European spots, finishing a disappointing ninth.
His job is now on the line, with defeat in the final seemingly sealing his fate after club officials called the season so far "unsatisfactory."
Leverkusen can play stunning, fast-paced football when two of the league's most dangerous strikers, Stefan Kiessling and Patrick Helmes, are in top form and Brazilian midfielder Renato Augusto orchestrates the attacks.
However, since their sensational 4-2 German Cup quarter-final win over Bayern Munich, Leverkusen have failed to replicate their good form, needing extra time to oust Mainz 05 4-1 in the last four.
Captain Simon Rolfes is fully fit to play in their third final appearance and Labbadia can only hope his strikers will be in the mood for goals to win their first German Cup since 1993.
[Reuters via Guardian]
Bayer Leverkusen scored three goals in extra time to overcome plucky second division side Mainz 4-1 and reach the German Cup final on Tuesday.
Goals from Arturo Vidal, Simon Rolfes and Michal Kadlec finally broke the sprit of the underdogs who had struck a late equaliser through Arisitide Bance to force the extra period.
In the May 30 final at the Berlin Olympic stadium Leverkusen, Cup winners in 1993, will face Hamburg SV or Werder Bremen who meet in the last four on Wednesday.
The Bundesliga side, who briefly led the standings before dropping to ninth place after one win in their last eight league games, had to work hard against a disciplined Mainz defence.
But the visitors, third in the second tier and fighting for promotion, ran out of steam allowing Leverkusen to cling on to the hope of playing in the Europa League next season.
"We showed great character out there," Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia told ARD television. "The team did well. We wore the opponents down."
It took Leverkusen 20 minutes to carve out a chance through striker Patrick Helmes, who struck a low close-range shot that sailed across goal and just wide of the far post.
Mainz defended well and striker Bance, who got the winner against Schalke 04 in the quarter-finals, was a constant threat.
But in the final quarter of the match Leverkusen poured forward and substitute Angelos Haristeas struck what looked to be the winner in the 82nd minute when the Greece striker tapped home a poor clearance by goalkeeper Dimo Wache.
However, Bance levelled two minutes from time when he headed in Milorad Pekovic's cross to take the game into extra time.
Chilean Vidal put Leverkusen back in front in the second minute of extra time with a close range effort and midfielder Rolfes then flicked in a Manuel Friedrich header to make it 3-1.
Michal Kadlec completed the rout after a fine solo run in the 117th minute.
"It was a hard win but we enjoyed ourselves. We had fun doing it and now we get to travel to Berlin," said Haristeas.
[Soccernet]
Mainz and Wehen Wiesbaden will be looking to upset the form book this week as they aim to book a place in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal at the expense of Bundesliga opposition.
Mainz, who knocked Cologne out in the second round, host Schalke tomorrow night in the first of this week's quarter-final ties with the pressure firmly on the top-flight side.
The Royal Blues have failed to make a big impression in the Bundesliga this week and coach Fred Rutten was under increasing pressure until a 2-1 victory at Frankfurt at the weekend restored a hint of tranquillity in Gelsenkirchen.
However, Rutten knows only a win can save him from renewed criticism tomorrow.
"We want to reach the next round because our aim in this competition is (the final in) Berlin," he said. "It doesn't matter how we get through; the main thing is that we win."
Wehen travel to Hamburg on Wednesday needing to register their first away win of the season to follow up a win over Karlsruhe in the last round and record another shock.
However, having scored only three goals in six games so far in 2009, the odds are stacked against the second division strugglers.
Wolfsburg have emerged as possible Bundesliga title contenders thanks to their 3-1 win at Hamburg yesterday and manager Felix Magath, who led Bayern Munich to back-to-back league and cup doubles, can keep alive dreams of emulating that feat with the Wolves by beating Werder Bremen.
The other tie sees cup holders Bayern Munich travel to Dusseldorf, where they will face Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night.
Both teams have injury worries with Luca Toni and Philipp Lahm both serious doubts for Bayern and Manuel Friedrich ruled out for the home team.
Leverkusen have yet to win in their adopted home of the Dusseldorf Arena, but goalkeeper Rene Adler thinks now would be the perfect time for that record to end.
"I am really looking forward to the Bayern game," he said. "To beat them and reach the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal would be worth its weight in gold."
Markus Rosenberg scored four goals and Hugo Almeida added three to help Werder Bremen crush fourth-division Eintracht Nordhorn 9-3 in the first round of the German Cup on Saturday, while a match involving Hannover was interrupted by clashes between rival fans.
Other top-division Bundesliga teams also advanced with big wins over lowly opposition.
Hannover crushed Hallescher FC 5-0 in a match that was interrupted for 10 minutes late in the game when fans started fighting. Police intervened to restore order before the match could be resumed. There were no reports of injuries or arrests. Arnold Brugging scored two goals for Hannover.
Ivica Olic had two goals and Paolo Guerrero scored one in Hamburger SV's 3-1 win over second-division FC Ingolstadt. Marko Marin notched three in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 8-1 thrashing of seventh-division Fichte Bielefeld.
Juergen Klopp had a successful official debut as coach of Borussia Dortmund when his new team beat fourth-division Rot-Weiss Essen 3-1 on goals from Tamas Hajnal, Florian Kringe and Nelson Valdez.
A Luca Toni double lifted Bayern Munich to a 2-1 German Cup final success after extra-time over Borussia Dortmund in front of 73,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on Saturday.
Toni, revisiting the venue where in 2006 he captured the World Cup with Italy, struck in the 11th minute after being fed the ball by Frank Ribery, the France international who had opposed his teammate in the World Cup final.
That goal appeared to have decided the affair only for Dortmund's Mladen Petric to snatch an injury time equaliser, to force extra time.
But Toni, who like Ribery joined Bayern last summer, had the last word when he grabbed the winner in the 103rd minute.
This was a final Cup appearance for Bayern talisman Oliver Kahn with the goalkeeper retiring at the end of the season. For him it was a sixth Cup success. This final meanwhile had a special edge to it for Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld as he had a seven year spell as manager of Dortmund.
