Borussia Dortmund and FC St. Pauli have previously faced each other competitively 23 times. The latest meeting also took place in the DFB-Pokal, with BVB claiming a second-round win at the Millerntor in October 2014 en route to reaching the final. It was also the starting point for a celebration trilogy.

BVB produced a dominant, strong and focused performance at the Millerntor in Hamburg on 28 October 2014. The home side, who let Borussia take control of proceedings, were inferior in every respect. The stats for possession (59-41%), challenges won (54-46%) and shots on goal (10-2) illustrated Dortmund's superiority in the opening half. The difference in class was also evident from the half-time score, with Ciro Immobile (33) and Marco Reus (44) having opened up a 2-0 lead. Borussia dropped down a gear in the second half and let St. Pauli have more of the game, but still managed to hold on to the lead. Shinji Kagawa scored the final goal four minutes before the end to make it 3-0. 

Two players who started that game – Mats Hummels and Marco Reus – are still in the Black & Yellow squad today. Sebastian Kehl, now head of the licensed player division, was also in the starting XI eight years ago. Florian Kringe, a former BVB player for many years, lined up in the St. Pauli side against his former team-mates.

And another story was written in that game, too: it was the start of Marco Reus' three monkey emoji celebrations. The attacking midfielder covered his eyes with his hands against St. Pauli, then covered his ears after netting in the subsequent Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, before completing his hat-trick in the Champions League against Galatasaray by covering his month with his hands after finding the back of the net. (cr)