The top two sides in German football for the past seven years will battle it out for the DFB-Pokal this Saturday with Bayern Munich bidding to complete a league and cup double and their arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund keen on lifting a trophy to crown Thomas Tuchel's first season in charge.
With the last seven Bundesliga titles shared between them, Bayern and Dortmund have been the agenda setters of the domestic game in recent years and their meeting in Berlin's Olympiastadion is therefore a clash of Germany's titans.
It will also be Pep Guardiola's final game in charge of the record German champions, not to mention Mats Hummels' last appearance for Dortmund before he joins their opponents next season, meaning there are plenty of ingredients for a game dubbed the Klassiker.
"Pep Guardiola is the best coach in the world," said Tuchel at a press conference on Friday. "His departure is a huge loss.
"But then again, maybe it is going to be good for opponents that they might have a better chance now against Bayern."
Guardiola returned the compliment, saying he is "going to miss Thomas Tuchel," adding that he has "done great work before in Mainz and now with Dortmund, where he has succeeded in building a great team in a short period of time."
The compliments for each other ended there, however, with the two coaches turning instead to praising their own teams.
"My team's hunger is sensational," said Guardiola. "After winning the treble under Jupp Heynckes, it's incredible that they have managed to continue playing like that for three years.
"I am so proud of the consistency of my players."
Tuchel added: "We've come on really well this season and the biggest compliment has got to be paid to the players.
"We've got the quality to beat Bayern."
They have shown that before. The last time these sides met in the final was in 2012, when Dortmund triumphed 5-2 to complete a league and cup double under Jurgen Klopp.
"I don't think we can really compare the two, though," said Dortmund's general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke to Sport1. "Back then, we had just won the league by eight points over them. Nevertheless, that is not to say we don't have a chance."
For Hummels, whose transfer to Bayern this summer has already been announced, it will be an awkward situation trying to beat his future employers, but there can be no doubts as to where his priorities lie.
"It's going to be the toughest game of my career," said the German defender. "I know there's going to be so much pressure on me.
"If I make a mistake, people are going to say I already have my mind in Munich, but I'm going to give it everything I've got to go home with the cup."
After that, Hummels will tread the same path taken by Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski, much to the disappointment of many Dortmund fans, who will have seen three key players leave to strengthen their rivals in recent years.
One of those, Gotze, will not have the chance to inflict any further damage on them on Saturday, however, since a broken rib has ruled him out of the final.
His involvement in Euro 2016 for Germany does not look in any danger, although he may well have already played his last game for Bayern with rumours he will leave and possibly return to Dortmund this summer.
That reduces Guardiola's options, with Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber already ruled out, but he can otherwise count on Javi Martinez and Xabi Alonso, who have both missed training sessions this week. Ilkay Gundogan and Neven Subotic are Dortmund's only notable absentees.
Source: PA
