Frankfurt Upset Bayern Munich to Win 2018 DFB-Pokal Final; Ante Rebic Nets Brace

Eintracht Frankfurt stunned Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on Saturday as they won the DFB-Pokal final 3-1 thanks to a brace from Ante Rebic. 

The Croatian striker opened the scoring just 11 minutes into the game after he capitalised on a mistake by James Rodriguez.

Robert Lewandowski levelled after the break, but Rebic looked to have won it on 82 minutes after he latched onto a long ball upfield and outran Mats Hummels and Niklas Sule before firing home.

Bayern were denied a penalty in stoppage time after Javi Martinez went down after a tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng. There appeared to be clear contact between the two, but the video assistant referee was consulted, a corner was awarded instead.

Frankfurt then sealed the win with a breakaway goal from Mijat Gacinovic, who raced clear and rolled the ball into an empty net after Bayern had thrown everybody, including goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, forward in search of an equaliser.

Bayern's underwhelming season ends with a whimper

Bayern Munich may have won the Bundesliga title for a sixth consecutive season, but this has been a disappointing season for the Bavarian giants.

Carlo Ancelotti was fired in September 2017 after a heavy 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, and their European campaign ended with a semi-final loss to Real Madrid.

The club had the chance to end the season with a domestic double against a team they beat 4-1 in the league less than a month ago, yet they failed.

Bayern can point to two chances that hit the frame of the goal and a controversial late penalty decision denied, but they'll be glad to see the back of this campaign.

Kovac shows he's a smart choice by Bayern

Niko Kovac will take charge of Bayern Munich next season, and he will take on the job having shown them exactly what he can do by upsetting the odds to lift the trophy against his future employers.

The 46-year-old was not the most obvious choice to replace Jupp Heynckes, but he has done a fine job at Frankfurt, and winning the DFB-Pokal final against a team of Bayern's stature is an admirable achievement.

Football writer Jonathan Harding was impressed with the Croatian:

Kovac will have his work cut out at Bayern next season, but he looks a smart bet by the German giants. 

More VAR controversy

VAR played a role in two key decisions in the game.

The first was for a handball by Boateng in the build-up to Frankfurt's second goal that was deemed accidental before the penalty incident with Martinez late on.

Goal's Robin Bairner said it was a clear penalty:

There was clear contact between the two players, but it was not enough to convince referee Felix Zwayer. 

Rebic stars as Kovac gets selection spot-on

Frankfurt have been without Rebic in recent weeks due to injury, but Kovac had no hesitation in putting him into the starting lineup.

He was rewarded with an impressive performance by the Croatian, who scored twice and caused problems for the Bayern defence throughout the game.

Football writer Michael Yokhin tipped him to impress at the FIFA World Cup 2018:

Credit must also go to Kovac for the way he set his team up against Bayern and their game plan. The team pressed well, were aggressive and took their chances when they came.

Bayern have to cut out costly mistakes

Bayern Munich have been guilty of some high-profile errors this season, and it was the same story on Saturday.

Their Champions League hopes were ended against Real Madrid after they gifted Los Blancos goals in both legs of their semi-final clash.

On Saturday Rodriguez was the guilty man; he gave the ball away to allow Rebic to race forward and slot home the opener.

The early goal gave Frankfurt added belief that they could pull off a shock and made Bayern chase the game.

Kimmich's the best right-back in the world

Joshua Kimmich may have ended up on the losing side, but the 23-year-old proved once again just what a brilliant right-back he is.

The defender was an attacking threat and claimed yet another assist for Lewandowki's goal. As shown by Bayern's Twitter account, he's now been involved in 24 goals this season, which is a superb effort from a full-back:

Football writer Cristian Nyari thinks he's the best in the world in his position:

The youngster is proving to be the perfect successor to Philipp Lahm, and at just 23 years old he can only get better as he becomes more experienced.