DFB Cup: Defending champions VfB after a dramatic victory in the cup final

This meant that VfB turned the game around after Maximilian Eggestein made it 0-1 (28th). Immediately before Undav’s equalizer, Yuito Suzuki had made it 2-0 for Baden – there were only 19 seconds between Freiburg’s huge chance and the Swabians’ successful counterattack, who were able to celebrate decisively shortly before the end of extra time.

Titles still possible for Freiburg even after elimination

Last year, Stuttgart celebrated their first cup triumph in 28 years against outsiders Arminia Bielefeld. Now coach Sebastian Hoeneß is writing the next chapter of cup success with VfB. The fact that the club has reached the final twice in a row has never happened before in the club’s history.

This time, VfB goes into the final as underdogs. FC Bayern won 2-0 in their semi-final on Wednesday evening in Leverkusen – and appear almost untouchable nationally.

For the SC, which missed its second cup final after 2022, there is still a milestone and the first major title in the club’s history in a remarkable season despite the DFB Cup elimination: Reaching the final is by no means impossible in the two semi-final duels of the Europa League with Sporting Braga on April 30th and May 7th.

Hectic start

After the fan camp had gotten the teams in the mood, smoke from the red glowing pyrotechnics on the VfB side delayed kick-off by a few minutes. The game started heatedly on the pitch. After a good quarter of an hour, four players – two on each side – had picked up yellow cards.

“We have to show that we want to go to Berlin. We want to be courageous and offensive,” Hoeneß asked Sky before kick-off. But in front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, the VfB offensive around national striker Undav initially struggled against the attentive Freiburg defense.

Freiburg proves its standard strength

Freiburg was the first to appear dangerous in front of the goal – and immediately demanded a penalty. Midfielder Eggestein stumbled when Angelo Stiller made contact; for referee Tobias Welz, that wasn’t enough to blow the whistle.

The starting point of the 1-0 ten minutes later was a corner that the VfB defense cleared centrally. Freiburg’s Matthias Ginter headed to Eggestein, who poked the ball past VfB goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.

VfB hasn’t had a chance to score so far. Only in the minutes before the break did the hosts show promising offensive moves, but Ermedin Demirovic, Jamie Leweling and Undav missed.

Stuttgart dominant after the break

In contrast to the sometimes disjointed first half, the Baden-Württemberg duel gained more and more momentum after the break. Driven by their fans, the Stuttgart team pushed for an equalizer, but they weren’t rewarded for a long time. When Stiller did score, the goal was not recognized. Demirovic was previously offside.

Only Undav made the fans cheer with his low shot into the left corner. With an increase in chances and two hits on the post, VfB was closer to victory, but Freiburg’s substitute and cup goalkeeper Florian Müller made brilliant saves several times. A Freiburg goal from Lucas Höler at the start of extra time did not count. When it was already heading to a penalty shootout, Tomas decided the game with a strong move.