In the 2012/13 season, Freiburg reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup for the first time. At that time they lost 1:2 at VfB Stuttgart. Arthur Boka and Martin Harnik scored for VfB, Jan Rosenthal had equalized in the meantime. Almost exactly nine years later, Freiburg made it one more round. You are in the final. The way there led to victories against Würzburg, Osnabrück, Hoffenheim, Bochum and Hamburger SV – and it was emotional.
“I can’t even say what was going through my head,” said coach Christian Streich after reaching the final. “It sounds strange, but some of my boys have already been to the youth A final, after that we always watched the pros. I have no concerns that they will be too nervous. And if we don’t win, at least we were in Berlin.”
1st round: Jonathan Schmid shoots Freiburg to victory against Würzburg
The Freiburg team struggled against the Würzburg Kickers in the first round of the cup. Jonathan Schmid scored the only goal of the game just before the break (45th minute). An open game developed in the second half, but Freiburg confidently defended their lead and narrowly prevailed against the third division team without impressing.
2nd round: Freiburg’s Uphoff becomes a hero against Osnabrück
It was even tighter in the second round. Vincenzo Grifo gave Freiburg the lead at VfL Osnabrück (33rd minute). In stoppage time (90+7), the third division side scored the much-acclaimed equalizer through Lukas Gugganig. The hosts then took the lead in extra time through a goal by Sebastian Klaas and were on the verge of a surprise. But the people of Breisgau also proved that they can score at the last second. Keven Schlotterbeck made it 2-2 in the 120th minute. In a spectacular penalty shoot-out, Freiburg keeper Benjamin Uphoff saved three penalties, one more than Osnabrück’s Philipp Kühn. The game ended 3:2 after penalties.
Round of 16: Clear Freiburg victory against Hoffenheim
Of all things, against what was supposedly the strongest opponent up to that point, namely against their first league rivals, Freiburg didn’t have to tremble. Grifo scored twice against TSG Hoffenheim in the first half (10′, 36′). After the goal (own goal N. Schlotterbeck) Kevin Schade (55th) and Ermedin Demirovic (68th) increased. Freiburg won 4-1.
Quarter-finals: last-minute win against Bochum
In the quarter-finals, Freiburg again showed their quality of scoring goals at the last second. After Nils Petersen’s goal, which gave SC the lead in the 51st minute, and Sebastian Polter’s equalizer (64′, 1-1), the game went into extra time. When everything pointed to a penalty shoot-out, Bochum defender Maxim Leitsch made a mistake. His back pass failed, Freiburg’s Roland Sallai took the ball, beat Leitsch in a sprint duel and scored the 2-1 winner in the 120th minute.
Semifinals: Freiburg beats Hamburger SV
The Streich-Elf made it into the first DFB Cup final in the club’s history in Hamburg – with a 3-1 win (3-0) at Hamburger SV. Nils Petersen gave the Breisgauers an early lead (11th minute), Nicolas Höfler increased it to 2-0 (17th). Vincenzo Grifo finally made the preliminary decision, converting a penalty kick (35th). Robert Glatzel scored the consolation goal for HSV in the 88th minute. The final in Berlin will then take place on May 21st.
Source: SWR