Three Observations from Bayern Munich’s 3-0 DFB-Pokal win over Stuttgart

BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 23: Harry Kane of FC Bayern München scores his 1-0 goal and celebrates against Alexander Nuebel, Nübel goalkeeper of Stuttgart during the DFB Cup Final 2026 match between FC Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart at Olympiastadion on May 23, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by EyesWideOpen/Getty Images) | Getty Images Bayern Munich earned the domestic double in a 3-0 win over Stuttgart in Berlin. It was scoreless at halftime, but Bayern’s quality eventually prevailed in the form of another hat-trick from Harry Kane, his fifth of the season.

Bayern’s postgame celebration was full of smiles, hugs, and dancing before most of the squad heads to North America to play in the 2026 World Cup for their respective countries. That was a proper final Six of the previous eight DFB-Pokal finals featured a final margin of multiple goals and never felt particularly close. Tonight’s ending result was similar, but proved to be a grinding affair where neither team felt inclined to yield an inch of free space to the opponent.

Bayern’s first real chance became the opening goal and Harry Kane’s next goal was the byproduct of a lengthy stretch where Stuttgart finally gassed out. Angelo Stiller conceded a penalty kick in stoppage time purely because he was mentally and physically exhausted. Stuttgart brought a relentless physicality to Berlin.

Referee Sven Jablonski consistently allowed high challenges from both teams and did not reward players who went down easily. There were a number of fouls in the first half that should have drawn yellow cards, but Jablonski held the line, and allowed the players to duel it out. The first yellow card did not appear until the 54th minute on the 13th foul of the match, a tactical jersey pull by Chris Führich to slow down Michael Olise.