DFB-Ligapokal
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| Founded | 1997 |
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| Abolished | 2007 |
| Region | Germany |
| Number of teams | 6 |
The DFL-Ligapokal [ˈdeː ʔɛf ɛlː liːgaːpoˈkaːl] (officially Premiere Ligapokal [pʁəmiːeːʁə liːgaːpoˈkaːl], previously DFB-Ligapokal [ˈdeː ʔɛf beː liːgaːpoˈkaːl]) or the German League Cup was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous Bundesliga season and the winners of the DFB-Pokal in Germany. The cup was known as the Premiere-Ligapokal after 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 Championship. Instead, the T-Home German Supercup was held on 23 July 2008. The DFL-Ligapokal was not held in 2009 either, due to the German Football Association's decision to abolish it. For the last edition of the DFL-Ligapokal, in 2007, the fifth-placed Bundesliga team (Bayer Leverkusen) was dropped from the competition, replaced by the winner of the 2. Bundesliga (Karlsruhe).
The Ligapokal was played between six teams, the top four teams of the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal winners, and the winner of the 2. Bundesliga. If a team was doubly qualified by also winning the German Cup, the number five team in the Bundesliga took the spare place.
The tournament was 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 entered the tournament in the second round. If the Bundesliga champion was also the cup winner, the Bundesliga runner-up skipped the first round. The four remaining teams played one match to determine who qualified for the next round. The four teams in the second round then played one match to determine which teams qualified for the final. The first round matches and the final took place in neutral venues, in the semi-finals the Bundesliga champion and the Cup winner played at home. The matches lasted 90 minutes, with a penalty shootout immediately following if the match was tied.
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