Sebastian Hoeneß will lead VfB Stuttgart into the DFB-Pokal semifinal against SC Freiburg on Thursday evening in Stuttgart. The match at the MHP-Arena kicks off at 20.45 Uhr and will decide the second ticket for this year's DFB-Pokal final in Berlin; Stuttgart go in as the title holder.
The raw facts tilt a storyline toward the home side: Stuttgart have won four of the five previous national cup meetings with Freiburg, and the club carries a long domestic pedigree — five German championships and four cup wins — while Freiburg remains without a major title. Yet the visitors arrive on form. Julian Schuster's side reached the Europa League semifinal this spring after a 3:1 win in Vigo and have added momentum with away victories at St. Pauli and in Mainz.
Hoeneß has leaned on his team's home rhythm in pregame comments. "Wir sind zu Hause nicht nur gegen Freiburg, sondern auch gegen andere Mannschaften in der Lage, Druck aufzubauen und dominant zu spielen," he said, stressing Stuttgart's capacity to command matches on their own turf. Team voices have echoed the same belief: forward Igor Matanovic put the season in blunt terms when he praised the squad's resilience, saying, "Bei unserem Pensum diese Spiele immer wieder zu gewinnen, ist eine Riesenqualität" — a reminder that Stuttgart see cup nights as a place to show strength.
The numbers underline those claims. Observers note that two-thirds of Stuttgart's points are said to have been earned at home, and the club sits three league places ahead of Freiburg, giving Hoeneß a statistical platform he will point to in the MHP-Arena. Conversely, Freiburg's recent string of road results and their run to the Europa League last four suggest a team that is no longer content to play second fiddle in big fixtures.
That contrast is the match's central tension. On paper and in history, Stuttgart are the cup team: defending champions, superior head-to-head cup record, and the kind of experience that comes from winning silverware as recently as 2024. On form and in rhythm, Freiburg look dangerous — a squad capable of traveling, scoring and closing out games under pressure, as their 3:1 success in Vigo demonstrated. The clash between pedigree and momentum is immediate: will Stuttgart's home dominance and cup know-how blunt Freiburg's current surge, or will Freiburg's continental confidence carry them to a first major final?
There is also structure to consider. For Freiburg this is the first of two semifinals they face across competitions; the club has already proved it can balance a heavy schedule with results. For Stuttgart, the knockout calendar is simpler but no less fraught: as holders, they must defend while managing expectations that come with cup success. The venue and the kickoff hour matter in the same sentence as do the mental demands — 20.45 Uhr under the lights in the MHP-Arena is the setting where one side's narrative will crack or harden.
The game will be decided by margins that the season has exposed: who presses better in the final third, who holds possession when it matters, who can bend their recent form into a single decisive performance. Hoeneß's side will try to turn home advantage and past cup results into a practical edge; Schuster's Freiburg will test whether continental form translates to domestic knockout ruthlessness.
Stuttgart enter as favorites on paper and as defenders of a title in their trophy cabinet. But football now is often won by momentum more than memory. The clearest outcome the season's arc supports is this: if Freiburg brings the same intensity they displayed in Vigo and on their recent travels, they will make the MHP-Arena a problem for the holders — otherwise, Hoeneß's home blueprint and Stuttgart's cup experience should be enough to send them back to Berlin.
