VfB Stuttgart and SC Freiburg meet in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on Thursday at 20:45, with the match shown live on Das Erste and carried in an audio stream on sportschau.de. It is the sixth cup meeting between the clubs and their second in a semifinal, returning the rivalry to the Stuttgart Arena again.
The game brings back a familiar frame for Freiburg. In the last cup semifinal between the sides on 14 January 2013, Stuttgart won 2:1, and Matthias Ginter, then 19, was comforted by coach Christian Streich after the defeat. Julian Schuster, now Freiburg’s trainer, was the captain that day, and Ginter has since said of the matchup: “Berlin ist das Ziel, aber Stuttgart ist eine gute Mannschaft” and “es wird wieder auf Kleinigkeiten ankommen.”
Stuttgart have won four of the five previous DFB-Pokal duels with Freiburg, a record that gives this semifinal a heavier edge than a simple regional derby. The first meeting came on 13 November 1996, when the teams finished 1:1 after 120 minutes before Stuttgart won 4:2 on penalties in Freiburg, with Fredi Bobic scoring, Martin Spanring equalizing and Jogi Löw coaching Stuttgart. Franz Wohlfahrt saved and scored the decisive penalty, and Stuttgart went on to reach the final and win the 1997 DFB-Pokal 2:0 against Energie Cottbus in Berlin.
The second cup clash followed on 20 December 2000, when Stuttgart again came through 2:1 after extra time. Krassimir Balakov put Stuttgart ahead in the 29th minute, Sebastian Kehl answered two minutes later and Viorel Ganea struck the winner in the 95th minute before Stuttgart later fell 0:3 to Schalke 04 in the semifinal that season. The current tie now gives Freiburg another chance to change that pattern in the same city where the emotional memory of 2013 still hangs over the matchup.
For Stuttgart, the path is straightforward: reach another final. For Freiburg, Thursday is about trying to turn a familiar script in a stadium and a competition that have often favored the same opponent.