The DFB-Ligapokal, or 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 Fußball-Bundesliga season and the winners of the DFB-Pokal in Germany. The cup has been known as the Premiere-Ligapokal since 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 Football Championship. Instead, the T-Home German Supercup was held on 23 July 2008. The DFB-Ligapokal was not held on 2009 either, due to the German Football Association's decision to abolish it. For the last edition of the DFB-Ligapokal, in 2007, the fifth-placed Bundesliga team (Bayer Leverkusen) was dropped from the competition, replaced by the winner of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga (Karlsruhe).

The Ligapokal was played between six teams, the top four teams of the Bundesliga, the German Cup winners, and the winner of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. If a team was doubly qualified by also winning the German Cup, the number five team in the Bundesliga took the spare place.

Mohamed Abdullah Zidan (Arabic: محمد عبد الله زيدان ‎) (born December 11, 1981 in Port Said) is an Egyptian footballer who also has German citizenship. He currently plays as a striker for the German club Mainz 05 as well as the Egyptian national team. He is the only player in the history of the Bundesliga to score in each of his first six games with his new club. He is known for putting unique designs in his hair.

Mohamed Zidan was born in Port Said, Egypt, to an Egyptian family. His career started as a striker for his hometown club Al-Masry in 1998. Al-Masry dropped Zidan because of a perceived lack of passing ability leading to his family moving to Denmark. In his first year in Denmark, while training with B93 for a contract, he played a few games for the Danish-Turkish club FC Anatolien, now Kokkedal BK, in Nivå in the Northern Seeland of Denmark. Zidan was scouted by the Danish Superliga club Akademisk Boldklub (AB) while he was juggling a ball at a Danish park in 1999. In June 2003, he moved to the league rivals FC Midtjylland (FCM), as AB experienced financial hardship. At FCM, he became the league's top scorer in the 2003–04 season, and he was awarded the Rookie of the year award, becoming Player of the Year the following season. In all, he scored 30 goals in 47 appearances for FC Midtjylland, and especially his nine goals in the first three games of FCM's newly built SAS Arena stadium, made the stadium colloquially known as "Zidan Arena". Also, his number 14 shirt was retired.