dailyloe.com – VfB Stuttgart hosts SC Freiburg in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on Thursday at 20:45 live on Das Erste and sportschau.de. This match marks the sixth DFB-Pokal meeting between the two Baden-Württemberg rivals. The head-to-head record clearly favors one club.
Stuttgart has won four of the five previous cup duels against Freiburg. The most memorable encounter occurred on January 14, 2013, in another semifinal at Stuttgart’s arena. Freiburg lost 2-1 that day.
Images of a weeping 19-year-old Matthias Ginter on the pitch, consoled by coach Christian Streich, remain poignant 13 years later. Stuttgart celebrated with over 50,000 fans and coach Bruno Labbadia after advancing to the final.
Matthias Ginter, now 32, still plays for SC Freiburg and aims to prevent a repeat. “Berlin is the goal, but Stuttgart is a good team,” Ginter told SWR Sport. “It will come down to small details again.”
Ginter is the only current Freiburg player who featured in the 2013 semifinal against Stuttgart. Former captain Julian Schuster, now Freiburg’s head coach, also played that day.
The first DFB-Pokal duel between the clubs took place on November 13, 1996. The match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, with goals from Stuttgart striker Fredi Bobic and Freiburg defender Martin Spanring.
The decision came in a penalty shootout before 22,000 spectators at the sold-out Dreisamstadion. Stuttgart prevailed under their coach at the time.
