The DFB-Ligapokal, or German League Cup, is a German football competition that takes place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top four teams of the previous Fußball-Bundesliga season, the winner of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga and the winners of the DFB-Pokal in Germany. The cup has been known as the Premiere-Ligapokal since 2005, when Premiere, a German pay television network, took up sponsorship of the competition. The Ligapokal was not held in 2008 due to schedule crowding caused by the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. Instead, the T-Home German Supercup was held on July 23, 2008.

Format

The Ligapokal is played between six teams, the top four teams of the Bundesliga, the German Cup winners, and the winner of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. If a team is doubly qualified by also winning the German Cup, the number five team in the Bundesliga will take the spare place.

The tournament is a knock-out competition played over three rounds with two matches in the first two rounds, and a single final in the last round. The current Bundesliga champion and the German Cup winner enter the tournament in the second round. If the Bundesliga champion is also the cup winner, the Bundesliga runner-up will skip the first round. The four remaining teams play one match to determine who qualifies for the next round. The four teams in the second round then play one match to determine which teams qualify for the final. The first round matches and the final take place in neutral venues, in the semi-finals the Bundesliga Champion und the Cup winner play at home. The matches last 90 minutes, with a penalty shootout immediately following if the match is tied.

History

The Ligapokal was played as a unique event in 1972 because the Olympics in Munich had caused a postponement of the regular season kick-off. Until 1996 there was a single match between the German champions (Deutscher Meister) and German Cup winners (Pokalsieger), which was called German Supercup and is akin to the English FA Community Shield. A competition featuring four other big clubs who had not qualified for the Supercup, the Fuji-Cup, also existed from 1986. In 1997 this was extended to a cup competition consisting of six teams, the top five placed teams from the Bundesliga plus the German Cup winners, with the cup winners and champions entering in the semifinals. If the cup winner was the same as any of the top five finishers in the league, the 6th place team was entitled to participate and the format was adjusted accordingly. Starting with the 2007 cup, the participating teams will be the top four teams from the Bundesliga, the German Cup winners, as well as the winners of the 2nd Bundesliga.

Past winners

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue
1997	FC Bayern Munich	2 - 0	VfB Stuttgart	BayArena, Leverkusen
1998	FC Bayern Munich	4 - 0	VfB Stuttgart	BayArena, Leverkusen
1999	FC Bayern Munich	2 - 1	SV Werder Bremen	BayArena, Leverkusen
2000	FC Bayern Munich	5 - 1	Hertha BSC Berlin	BayArena, Leverkusen
2001	Hertha BSC Berlin	4 - 1	FC Schalke 04	Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim
2002	Hertha BSC Berlin	4 - 1	FC Schalke 04	Ruhrstadion, Bochum
2003	Hamburger SV	4 - 2	Borussia Dortmund	Stadion am Bruchweg, Mainz
2004	FC Bayern Munich	3 - 2	SV Werder Bremen	Stadion am Bruchweg, Mainz
2005	FC Schalke 04	1 - 0	VfB Stuttgart	Zentralstadion, Leipzig
2006	SV Werder Bremen	2 - 0	FC Bayern Munich	Zentralstadion, Leipzig
2007	FC Bayern Munich	1 - 0	FC Schalke 04	Zentralstadion, Leipzig
2008	not held

Winners by team

Pos	Team	Wins	Last win	Runner-ups	Last runner-up
1	FC Bayern Munich	6	2007	1	2006
2	Hertha BSC Berlin	2	2002	1	2000
3	SV Werder Bremen	1	2006	2	2004
4	FC Schalke 04	1	2005	2	2007
5	Hamburger SV	1	2003	0	N/A

Past Ligapokal results

The current Premiere Ligapokal champion is FC Bayern Munich.

Premiere Ligapokal 2007

	Team 1	Score	Team 2	Venue
Round 1	FC Schalke 04	1-0	Karlsruher SC	LTU-Arena, Düsseldorf
	SV Werder Bremen	1-4	FC Bayern Munich	LTU-Arena, Düsseldorf
Semifinals	1. FC Nuremberg	2-4	FC Schalke 04	EasyCredit-Stadion, Nuremberg
	VfB Stuttgart	0-2	FC Bayern Munich	Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart
Final	FC Schalke 04	0-1	FC Bayern Munich	Zentralstadion, Leipzig
Premiere Ligapokal Winner 2007: FC Bayern Munich

Media coverage

• All five matches of the 2007 Ligapokal were broadcast live on German free-TV channel Sat.1.
• In Australia the German League Cup is broadcast by Setanta Sports Australia.

See also

• DFB-Pokal
• DFB-Supercup
• Bundesliga