Fairy Tale Cup: In the quarterfinals of the German Cup, eight clubs that haven't won cups in years

Football cup competitions have always been a chance for clubs from the second plan, often for those from lower leagues, and the famous German Pokal this season directed one of the most beautiful stories ever...

In the quarterfinals of the German Cup, all teams that have not won trophies for years, and specifically in this competition since 1997,

Stuttgart, Hertha, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mehnengladbach, Saarbrücken and Sankt Pauli during 2024 will fight for the final at the "Olympic Stadium" in Berlin and for the Cup trophy.

Of them, the shortest wait for one of the bigger cups is Stuttgart, which was the champion of Germany in 2007, and the "Schwabs" are the last of the mentioned eight who celebrated in the Cup (1997).

A year before Stuttgart (1996), Kaiserslautern triumphed in Germany's most massive competition, which was also the champion of Germany in 1998, and after that it did not win anything and has been playing in the lower leagues for years.

Borussia Mönchengladbach also won European trophies (Uefa Cup 1975, 1979), played in the final of the Champions League (Cup) in 1977 when they were also champions of Germany, and have been waiting for any trophy since 1995 when they celebrated in the Cup.

The favorite among the remaining eight is certainly Bayer Leverkusen, which shines this year under the leadership of Xabi Alonso. However, the club that also played in the final of the Champions League (2002), and was the vice-champion of Germany five times throughout its history, won only two major trophies - the UEFA Cup in 1988 and the German Cup in 1993.

Fortuna was national champion in ancient times (1933), and won the Cup twice - the last time in 1980.

Hertha, Sankt Pauli and Saarbrücken have never celebrated in the German Cup, with the Berlin club having been German champions as far back as 1930 and 1931, and in 2001 and 2002 winning the country's League Cup, a competition which was abolished in 2007.

Saarbrücken and Sankt Pauli are perhaps the most beautiful stories of the Cup, since they will have the opportunity to win some of the big trophies for the first time, with the fact that the third league team from Saarland - which recently kicked out the mighty Bayern - reached the semifinals of this competition in the corona season.