“Really cool”: VfB Stuttgart moves into the final against RB Leipzig

When the fans of VfB Stuttgart started the Evergreen “Berlin, Berlin, we drive to Berlin”, the Maximilian Mitteldstädt, born in Berlin, shook tears of joy. His teammates also emotionally celebrated the move into the cup final through a 3: 1 (1: 0) against Bundesliga rival RB Leipzig. While VfB has now had a huge opportunity for the first DFB Cup triumph in 28 years, the new beginning of Leipzig went wrong under interim coach Zsolt Löw.

“Huge event, huge experience – congratulations to the team. It was an incredible achievement, today it was a tough piece of work,” said Stuttgart sports director Christian Gentner at Sky: “Celebration is allowed today, no question at all.” The outstanding national goalkeeper Alexander Nübel said with a view of the final: “This is really cool, we are really looking forward to it.”

On May 24th, the Stuttgart of coach Sebastian Hoeneß will go into the final against the Sensation team Arminia Bielefeld as a clear favorite. The third division team had defeated defending champion Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on Tuesday.

Angelo Stiller with a remarkable volley shot (5th minute), Nick Woltemade (57th) and Jamie Leweling (73.) led the hosts to the place of longing in front of 60,000 spectators. They also annoyed the excessive Red Bull football boss Jürgen Klopp in the stands. Striker Benjamin Sesko could only shorten for the Leipzig (62nd). In the end, the Stuttgart Woltemade and the Leipzig Sesko still met the crossbar.

In 1997 the Swabians most recently celebrated the title that it was the third after 1958 and 1954. With a final success, the hope of the renewed participation in the European Cup would also come true. In the Bundesliga, VfB has currently been passed down to eleventh.

RB, cup winner from 2022 and 2023, lacked efficiency. The disappointment is “very big,” said sports manager Marcel Schäfer, “because we wasted a huge chance”. For the first time, the Saxons lost a semi-finals at the fifth preliminary round. Löw’s main focus is now on leading the sixth in the season in the end of the season to the Champions League.

The long-time assistant coach Zsolt Löw had revealed him “healthy excitement, healthy tension”, had revealed him before the kick-off at Sky. Some displeasure is likely to have been added, because the challenge of the cup semi-final was even greater after just a few minutes.

VfB got a dream start when the hosts’ first corner led to a goal of the “goal of the month” brand. Middle Leaders of Stiller, half -right, hit the gate by a famous volley from around 18 meters. Leipzig’s cup goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt was surprised and did not react.

The collective cheers at the Swabians were contrasting to the serious expressions of RB soccer boss Jürgen Klopp, the technical director of RB, ex-VFB striker Mario Gomez and RB supervisory board head Oliver Mintzlaff on the stands. At the side of Klopp, Zsolt Löw will return to his role as chief strategist in the RB cosmos after the end of the season.

With increasing the course of the game, the Leipzigers were increasingly recovering from the early goal. Lois Openda forced VfB national goalkeeper Nübel in three scenes. And Xavi Simons also came to a promising conclusion. Klopp was carried away by the game, and again and again he rose from his place.

The game continued with intensity even after the change of sides. After a double pass with Ermedin Demirovic, U21 national striker Woltemade underlined his top form that has been ongoing for weeks. But just five minutes later, Sesko made it exciting again. Löw drove his team on the edge of the field. Leweling then poked the ball on the line.